Third Canadian detained in China as feud escalates

A third Canadian citizen has been detained in China, according to Canadian media citing the country’s foreign ministry.

The arrest escalates an already protracted diplomatic feud between the two countries. Two other Canadians were detained in China after the arrest of the senior Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Canada earlier this month.

A spokesperson for Canada’s global affairs ministry said it was aware a third Canadian citizen had been detained, according to the National Post. They did not say if the arrest was linked to that of Meng.

Citing privacy legislation, the spokesperson did not give any further details about the arrest.

In response to the report on Wednesday, China’s ministry of foreign affairs said it was not aware of the arrest. “I have not heard anything about the situation you have asked about,” said Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the ministry, at a regular press briefing.

Canadian embassy officials did not confirm the arrest and deferred questions to Ottawa.

After the arrest of Meng on 1 December, Chinese security detained Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat and analyst for a thinktank, and the businessman Michael Spavor, both Canadians.

Canada’s ambassador to China, John McCallum, met Spavor on Monday, and had previously visited Kovrig.

Beijing has threatened Canada with “grave consequences” if Meng is not freed. Meng faces extradition to the US on charges linked to fraud and violations of US sanctions on Iran.

Canada’s embassy in China on Tuesday published a commemoration of Charter 08, a petition calling for democratic reform co-authored by the Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, on the social media site Weibo.

Liu, a veteran Chinese dissident, died last year while serving an 11-year prison sentence.

By Wednesda,y the post had been partially censored. The embassy wrote on Twitter: “We commemorated 10th anniversary of Nobel-laureate Liu Xiaobo’s Charter 08 on social media yesterday. 1300+ people shared views before comment section was shut down. Violation of article 35 (freedom of speech) of China’s own constitution?”