China Detains Second Canadian after Arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, Canada

 

BEIJING – Canada’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it had been unable to contact Canadian businessman Michael Spavor since he notified the government that he was being questioned by Chinese authorities.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland earlier told reporters that a second Canadian citizen could be in trouble in China. Authorities in China are already holding former diplomat Michael Kovrig, who was detained on Monday.

Foreign ministry spokesman Guillaume Bérubé said in a statement issued in Canada late on Wednesday the missing Canadian was Spavor, a businessman who is based in the northern Chinese city of Dandong and who runs cultural exchanges with North Korea.

Canada was working hard to ascertain Spavor’s whereabouts and would continue to raise the issue with the Chinese government, Bérubé said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government’s news site confirmed Mr Spavor is being investigated, after a Canadian official said he was missing. This comes days after Chinese authorities detained a former Canadian diplomat in the escalating diplomatic row between the two nations.

Ms Wanzhou is wanted by the US after being accused of misleading banks about transactions linked to Iran and putting the banks at risk of violating sanctions.