Canada gains consular access to men detained by China as Trudeau criticises arrests

Canadian diplomats gained consular access on Sunday to the second of two men detained by China over the past week, Canada's foreign ministry said in a statement that gave few details, as China said it was ensuring their rights were protected.

John McCallum, Canada's ambassador to Beijing, met Michael Spavor, the Canadian ministry said. Mr Spavor and Michael Kovrig were both picked up after Canada arrested a senior Chinese executive on a US extradition request.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - who said on Friday the detentions were unacceptable - told CTV his government was taking the situation very seriously.

"We have engaged with the Chinese officials to determine what exactly conditions are they being detained under? Why are they being detained?" he said in an interview aired on Sunday. Mr McCallum met Mr Kovrig for the first time in Friday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that China should free the two men. China says they are both suspected of engaging in activities that endangered national security, but has given no details.

Speaking in Beijing on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China and Canada had "smooth" consular communication on the cases of the two Canadians and confirmed China had arranged consular access for both of them.

"At the same time, the lawful rights of these two Canadians have been guaranteed," Hua told a daily news briefing, without elaborating on where they are being held, under what exact charges and under what conditions.

Mr Spavor, a businessman, and Mr Kovrig, a former diplomat now working for a think-tank, were detained after Canadian police arrested Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on Dec 1.

US prosecutors accuse Ms Meng of misleading multinational banks about Iran-linked transactions, putting the banks at risk of violating US sanctions. Ms Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei's founder, has said she is innocent.

China has demanded Canada free Ms Meng and threatened unspecified consequences if it does not.

Ms Hua said it did not matter what "grandiose pretexts" Canada and the United States came up with, their case against Ms Meng "showed contempt for the rule of law" and people around the world were ridiculing it for them.