The Latest: Canada raises detention of citizen with China

TORONTO (AP) — The Latest on the detention of a former Canadian diplomat in China (all times local):

Canada's Global Affairs Department says it's aware of the detention of a Canadian citizen in China and has raised the case with the Chinese government.

The department says in a statement it is "seized with this case" and is providing consular assistance to the family of the Canadian. It declined to say more or state his name.

But a person familiar with the matter says former diplomat Michael Kovrig was detained Monday night in Beijing during one of his regular visits to the city. The person spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to speak publicly on the matter.

The detention follows Chinese warnings to Canada of consequences for its recent arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver's airport.

Canada's public safety minister says the government is deeply concerned about a Canadian detained in China — confirming that a former Canadian diplomat is being held in Beijing amid a dispute between the two counties over Canada's arrest of a Chinese executive.

Minister Ralph Goodale said Tuesday the government is sparing no effort to look after the Canadian's safety. The comment came in response to a question about reports that former diplomat Michael Kovrig had been arrested in China, though he did not mention him by name.

The detention follows Chinese warnings to Canada of consequences for its recent arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver's airport.

Goodale said there is no explicit indication at this point that the cases are related and he said Canada is working to determine why he was detained.

A former Canadian diplomat has been detained while visiting Beijing.

A person familiar with the matter says Michael Kovrig was detained Monday night in Beijing during one of his regular visits to the city. The person spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to speak publicly on the matter.

The International Crisis Group said earlier Tuesday it was aware of reports that its North East Asia senior adviser has been detained. The Hong Kong-based Kovrig had served as the political lead for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's trip to that city in 2016.

The Brussels-based non-governmental organization said in a statement that it's doing everything possible to obtain additional information about Kovrig's whereabouts and that it will work to ensure his prompt release.

The detention comes after China warned Canada of consequences for its recent arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver's airport. It's unclear if there's any link between the cases.

The International Crisis Group said Kovrig has been one of its full-time experts since February 2017. </s> Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat who currently works for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, has reportedly been detained in China while working on a research project pertaining to North Korea.

Fears promptly arose that Kovrig was arrested in retaliation for Canada’s detention of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou and her possible extradition to the United States.

The Canadian government expressed “concerns” about Kovrig’s detention but said on Tuesday it has “no explicit information” linking his plight to the arrest of Meng, wanted in the United States on charges of violating American sanctions against the government of Iran.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder and a member of the Chinese inner circle, was arrested at the Vancouver airport on December 1. A week later, the Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned Canada’s ambassador and warned of “grave consequences that the Canadian side should be held accountable for” if Meng was not immediately released.

The Wall Street Journal noted China has engaged in retaliatory arrests before:

“I am feeling very concerned today,” David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador in China from 2009 to 2012, said Tuesday. “I know the position he occupied” at Canada’s embassy in Beijing, “and I know he has a great reputation.” While Mr. Mulroney said he has no first-hand knowledge of Mr. Kovrig’s case, “it is not beyond the Chinese” to retaliate after Ms. Meng’s arrest. Mr. Mulroney cited China’s decision in 2014 to detain two Canadians involved in humanitarian work near the North Korea border, shortly after a Chinese national, Su Bin, was arrested in Canada and later extradited to the U.S. Mr. Su would eventually plead guilty to conspiring to hack and steal sensitive data from Boeing Co. and other U.S. defense contractors; the Canadians, Kevin and Julia Garratt, were released and returned to Canada.

“International Crisis Group is aware of reports that its North East Asia Senior Adviser, Michael Kovrig, has been detained in China. We are doing everything possible to secure additional information on Michael’s whereabouts as well as his prompt and safe release,” Korvig’s employer said in a statement quoted by Reuters, which noted the Chinese government has not responded to requests for comment on the case.

The Washington Post quoted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stating on Tuesday that he is “aware of the Canadian detained in China” and promising his government is taking the case “very seriously.”

Soon after news of Korvig’s detention broke, the U.S. State Department reportedly began considering an advisory against travel to China by U.S. citizens. </s> TORONTO — A former Canadian diplomat has been detained while visiting Beijing amid a dispute between the two counties over Canada’s arrest of a Chinese executive at the request of the United States.

Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale on Tuesday confirmed the detention and said Canada is very concerned.

Michael Kovrig, who previously was a diplomat in China and elsewhere, was taken into custody by the Beijing Bureau of Chinese State Security on Monday night during one of his regular visits to Beijing, said the International Crisis Group, for which Kovrig works as North East Asia adviser based in Hong Kong.

Rob Malley, president of the non-government organization, said Canadian consular officers had not been given access yet to Kovrig.

Malley said he thinks Kovrig was in Beijing on personal matters at the time of his arrest and was definitely not there for any illegal purpose or for any reason that would undermine Chinese national security.

“I don’t think he had any reason to feel endangered,” Malley said. “He loved China, which was why he decided to take a leave of absence from the foreign affairs ministry in order to remain in China.”

The Brussels-based group said it had not received any information about him since his arrest.

The detention came after China warned Canada of consequences for its recent arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver’s airport. A Canadian judge granted Meng bail Tuesday while she awaits possible extradition to the U.S.

“We’re deeply concerned,” Goodale said in response to a question about Kovrig. “A Canadian is obviously in difficulty in China ... We are sparing no effort to do everything we possibly can to look after his safety.”

Goodale said there was no explicit indication at this point that it was related to the Meng arrest.

However, Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said he had no doubt Kovrig was detained in relation to the arrest of the Huawei executive.

“In China there is no coincidence,” he said. “Unfortunately Canada is caught in the middle of this dispute between the U.S and China. Because China cannot kick the U.S. they turn to the next target.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada’s government has contacted Chinese officials about the detention. “We are engaged with the file (case), which we take very seriously,” he said.

The International Crisis Group said Kovrig has been one of its full-time experts since February 2017. Its website says Kovrig previously worked as a Canadian diplomat in Beijing and Hong Kong and at the United Nations.

Saint-Jacques, the former ambassador, said Kovrig was on leave from the embassy. He said Kovrig did deep political work when he was working for the embassy. That work would include travel and interviews with dissidents, he said.

“In China there’s a very line between espionage and political reporting,” he said.

Saint-Jacques said the department created a program 15 years ago so it would get more in-depth analysis. He noted that Kovrig was a former journalist whose embassy reports were well read in Ottawa.

Kovrig wrote on his LinkedIn profile that he had served as the political lead on a visit Trudeau made to Hong Kong in September 2016. He worked in Canada’s consulate-general in Hong Kong at the time.

Former Canadian Liberal Party leader Bob Rae said it was clear why Kovrig had been detained.

Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Trudeau, said Chinese “retaliation against Canadian interests or Canadians would be unacceptable and pointless.”

“It would have zero impact on judicial proceedings in Canada,” Paris tweeted. “Beijing should already know this from previous experience. Let cooler heads prevail.”

Jorge Guajardo, Mexico’s former ambassador to China, said Canada needs to take dramatic action.

“I’d be summoning the entire Canadian consular Corp in China home for training. If that means they can’t issue visas in the meantime, certainly the Chinese would understand. These are special times,” he tweeted.

Hu Xijin, editor in chief of China’s state-run newspaper Global Times, wrote on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo that there isn’t any evidence Kovrig’s detention was retaliation for Meng’s arrest. But he added that the current situation was “highly sensitive” because of a “American-Canadian conspiracy” to arrest Meng.

“If people in the rest of the world make this association, it’s because Meng Wanzhou’s arrest was really way over the line. Naturally, people would think that China would take revenge,” Hu said.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> A former Canadian diplomat has been detained in China, two sources said on Tuesday, and his current employer, the International Crisis Group, said it was seeking his prompt and safe release.

Michael Kovrig’s detention comes after police in Canada arrested the chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on Dec. 1 at the request of U.S. authorities, a move that infuriated Beijing.

READ MORE: Meng Wanzhou family photos hint at the Huawei CFO’s life in Vancouver

It was not immediately clear if the cases were related, but the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver has stoked fears of reprisals against the foreign business community in China.

“International Crisis Group is aware of reports that its North East Asia Senior Adviser, Michael Kovrig, has been detained in China,” the think-tank said in a statement.

“We are doing everything possible to secure additional information on Michael’s whereabouts as well as his prompt and safe release,” it added.

China’s Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Public Security did not respond immediately to questions faxed earlier about Kovrig’s detention.

The exact reason for the detention was not immediately clear.

The Canadian embassy declined to comment, referring queries to Ottawa.

Calls to Kovrig’s phones were not answered.

Kovrig, a Mandarin speaker, has been working as a full-time expert for the International Crisis Group since February 2017. </s> Shanghai/Beijing: A former Canadian diplomat has been detained in China, two sources said on Tuesday, and his current employer, the International Crisis Group, said it was seeking his prompt and safe release.

Michael Kovrig's detention comes after police in Canada arrested the chief financial officer of China's Huawei Technologies on December 1 at the request of US authorities, a move that has infuriated Beijing.

It was not immediately clear if the cases were related, but the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver has stoked fears of reprisals against the foreign business community in China.

"International Crisis Group is aware of reports that its North East Asia senior adviser, Michael Kovrig, has been detained in China," the think tank said in a statement. </s> VANCOUVER/BEIJING (Reuters) - Canada confirmed on Tuesday that one of its citizens was detained in China but said it saw no explicit connection to the arrest in Vancouver of a top executive at Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co [HWT.UL].

Confirmation of the detention came soon after the executive, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, returned to a packed Vancouver courtroom for a bail hearing in a case that has angered Beijing. Canadian analysts had predicted China would retaliate after Meng’s arrest last week at the request of U.S. authorities.

Meng, 46, faces U.S. accusations that she misled multinational banks about Huawei’s control of a company operating in Iran, putting the banks at risk of violating U.S. sanctions and incurring severe penalties, court documents said.

Saying he was “deeply concerned,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale confirmed that Canada was aware a Canadian citizen was detained in China, but he provided no details on who it was.

Goodale said there was “no explicit indication at this moment” that the Canadian’s detention was linked to the arrest of Huawei’s CFO. Canadian officials have relayed their concerns to Chinese authorities about the detention.

The Canadian foreign ministry issued a statement saying the government “is seized with this case.”

A source directly familiar with the matter said this language was unusual for consular cases and showed a high level of concern.

Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig was the person detained, two sources had said earlier. Kovrig works for the International Crisis Group, an independent conflict resolution think-tank which said it was seeking his prompt and safe release.

China has threatened severe consequences unless Canada releases Meng immediately. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the matter is one for the courts to decide.

China’s Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Public Security did not respond immediately to questions regarding Kovrig’s detention sent via fax.

Tuesday is the third day of bail hearings in a British Columbia court, where a judge will weigh final issues in determining whether Meng should be freed on bail while awaiting extradition proceedings.

Canadian businesses operating in China are starting to feel the chill, and the signing of one major deal has been postponed, a source said.

“The consequences have already begun,” the source said, noting that a Canadian firm had been due to ink a major agreement in the next few weeks.

“The local partner, a Chinese private-sector actor, has told the Canadian partner that now is not a good time to sign,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.

Speaking at a Beijing forum on Tuesday, the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, said the government kept constant watch on the safety of citizens abroad, though he did not specifically mention Meng’s case.

“For any bullying that wantonly violates the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens, China will never sit idly by,” state television quoted him as saying.

The Canadian provincial court judge on Monday rolled the proceedings over to Tuesday because he wanted to hear more about who would take responsibility for Meng’s actions if she were released.

Meng’s lawyer David Martin had offered her husband as surety, but the judge and the public prosecutor questioned whether he could perform this duty as he is not a resident of British Columbia.

The arrest has roiled markets over fears it will exacerbate tensions between the United States and China in trade negotiations that both sides have agreed must be concluded by March 1.

In June 2014, Chinese businessman Su Bin was picked up on a U.S. warrant in Canada, where he had been attempting to establish residency.

Shortly afterward a Canadian citizen in China was arrested and charged with spying. Kevin Garratt spent two years in detention before being deported.

Huawei is the world’s largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment and second-biggest maker of smartphones, with revenue of about $92 billion last year. Unlike other big Chinese technology firms, it does much of its business overseas.

Huawei and its lawyers have said the company operates in strict compliance with applicable laws. </s> A former Canadian diplomat has reportedly been detained in China and his current employer says it is working for his "prompt and safe release".

The International Crisis Group said it was "aware of reports" of Michael Kovrig's detention.

Details are not yet clear. The news comes days after Canadian authorities arrested a top executive of the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei in Vancouver.

It is not known if there is a link between the two cases.

Tensions between Canada and China have been high over the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and daughter of its founder, on Saturday 1 December.

Mr Kovrig had previously worked as a diplomat in Beijing, Hong Kong and at the UN in New York.

Canada's ministry of foreign affairs has not confirmed the report by Reuters news agency, which cited two unnamed sources.

Mr Kovrig has been working since February 2017 as North East Asia senior advisor for the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank that focuses on conflict reduction research.

He worked with Canada's foreign affairs ministry between 2010 and 2016 and was posted in Hong Kong and Beijing between 2012 and 2016.

Ms Meng faces extradition to the US on charges of fraud related to sanctions-breaking business dealings with Iran.

She could be jailed for up to 30 years if found guilty.

China has demanded that Canada release of Ms Meng or face consequences.

She is scheduled to appear on Tuesday in the Supreme Court of British Columbia for the third day of her bail hearing.

Her husband has offered C$15m ($11m; £9m) - C$1m in cash and the couple's two homes in Canada - as surety for Ms Meng's release.

Canadian Crown prosecutors have asked for bail to be denied because they believe the wealthy executive poses a flight risk.

China's foreign ministry also insisted on Tuesday that Canada failed to promptly notify Beijing immediately about Ms Meng's arrest, according to a state media report. </s> OTTAWA — A second Canadian is missing in China after alerting foreign affairs officials that he was being questioned by Chinese authorities, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Wednesday.

The information comes mere days after the Beijing Bureau of State Security rounded up a Canadian diplomat, who is on a leave from his job, in a move that escalated an ongoing diplomatic dispute between the two countries.

Freeland told reporters Wednesday the government has been unable to make contact with the second Canadian since he raised concerns with officials. She said the government doesn’t know where the man is being detained, but has raised the case with Chinese authorities.

Freeland added that the government is in touch with the missing man’s family, but declined to say anything more about his case.

“It’s a situation that’s, perhaps, delicate,” she said in French. “And I want to respect this individual and his family.”

On Monday, China took Michael Kovrig into custody after Beijing warned Ottawa of severe consequences for its recent arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of tech giant Huawei. Meng was arrested in Canada earlier this month at the request of the United States, which is hoping to have her extradited over allegations she tried to bypass American trade sanctions on Iran and lied to U.S. banks about her actions.

A senior government official said China confirmed to Canada very early Wednesday the Beijing Bureau of State Security had detained Kovrig. Ottawa, however, doesn’t know what the allegations against him are and does not know where he is, the official said.

The Beijing News has reported that Kovrig “was suspected of engaging in activities that endanger China’s national security.”

Kovrig’s former boss in China said he would have been under the close watch of Chinese authorities years ago as he travelled the country and talked to dissidents on behalf of Canada’s government.

He took on political-reporting assignments on highly sensitive subjects, said Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador in Beijing.

Saint-Jacques said Kovrig tried to “get the pulse” of many groups, such as displaced Tibetans scattered around China and Muslim minorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where Beijing has been accused by the international community — including Canada — of mass detentions.

“He went to remote locations trying to meet with people from these communities to try and understand what they were going through, in terms of the challenges they faced, protecting their cultures,” Saint-Jacques said in an interview. “So, all of this, obviously, would have attracted the attention of security people.”

The former ambassador added that Chinese authorities have extensive files on all diplomats in China, especially those, like Kovrig, who speak fluent Mandarin.

Kovrig gave up diplomatic immunity when he took an unpaid leave of absence from Global Affairs Canada in late 2016 at the end of his posting. A senior government official, briefing reporters Wednesday on condition of anonymity, said he remains a federal government employee.

Saint-Jacques said Kovrig, who served under him in China between 2014 and 2016, loved the country and chose to stay.

In February 2017, Kovrig continued reporting on some of the touchiest subjects involving China after he joined the International Crisis Group as an adviser. His work for the non-governmental organization has covered a range of subjects, including the North Korean nuclear crisis, China’s relationship with the U.S. and its expanding presence in Africa.

A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry said earlier in the day that the International Crisis Group, where Kovrig has been a Hong-Kong-based analyst, is not registered in China and alleged its activities in the country are illegal.

Because Kovrig’s group is not registered as a non-governmental organization in China, Lu Kang added that “once its staff become engaged in activities in China, it has already violated the law.”

Lu also repeated China’s demand for Meng’s immediate release.

Saint-Jacques says he has a lot of sympathy for Kovrig, whom, based on his experience observing past cases, he believes is already enduring long interrogations by Chinese authorities.

He said they typically take detainees to secret locations, where they are monitored 24 hours a day with the lights always kept on. Saint-Jacques said Kovrig will likely face sleep and food deprivation as well as interrogations at all hours.

“They try to create as much psychological pressure as possible to make you crack,” said Saint-Jacques. “This will go on until they are satisfied, until they extract a confession. We have known people who are ready to admit to anything just to get out of there.”

He added that Kovrig likely won’t be officially charged and arrested until after this process, which can take months or more.

“In the Chinese system, once you are officially charged — in 99.9 per cent of the cases you are also found guilty,” he said. “So, the odds are against you.” </s> The verdict marks the second time a Canadian citizen has been sentenced to death on drug charges in China this year, amid escalating tensions between the two countries over the arrest of a Huawei executive.

Only the Canadian, who name is translated as Fan Wei, and a Chinese national, Wu Ziping, received the death penalty.

The harsher sentence was due to their role in helping to organize the trafficking operation in March 2012, according to the court statement. In total, they were found to have trafficked 63 kilograms (139 pounds) of methamphetamine.

The American and Mexican citizens received either a suspended death sentence or life imprisonment. The statement noted all defendants could appeal the verdict within 10 days. In January, Canadian national Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was also given a death sentence after a rapid retrial, a move which plunged relations between Canada and China to a new low. The sentences come as two other Canadian men -- ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor -- remain in detention in China on suspicion of espionage. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for the immediate release of both Korvig and Spavor, describing their detentions as "arbitrary." The cases have previously been interpreted in Canada as retaliation for the country's decision to arrest Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei. Meng was taken into custody on December 1, 2018, in Vancouver on behalf of the United States on charges of working to evade Iran sanctions. The Chinese government has repeatedly protested Meng's detention, saying the arrest was political. "Both Canada and the US abused their bilateral extradition treaty and took forced actions on a Chinese citizen. This severely infringed a Chinese citizen's legitimate rights," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in March. Meng is currently under house arrest in Vancouver and is facing extradition to the US.
Chinese state media reports a second Canadian national, Michael Spavor, has been detained on suspicion of endangering state security, while the China foreign ministry say two Canadian nationals are detained in the country. The Spavor investigation follows the detention of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig on December 10 and Canada's December 1 arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.