Ottawa’s ambassador to Beijing has met with the second Canadian detained in China on suspicion of threatening national security, the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.
Canadian Ambassador to Beijing John McCallum had met with Michael Spavor, a business consultant, two days after meeting with another detained Canadian, Michael Kovrig, a think tank employee, the ministry said.
“Canadian consular officials continue to provide consular services to him and his family, and will continue to seek further access to Mr Spavor,” it said.
China arrested two Canadians after Canada detained a senior executive from tech giant Huawei at the behest of the US.
“We are being absolutely clear on standing up for our citizens who have been detained, trying to figure out why, trying to work with China to demonstrate that this is not acceptable,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Toronto’s Citytv on Friday.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also branded the arrests “unacceptable.”
Huawei Technologies Co (華為) chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟) was released on bail in Vancouver on Tuesday last week pending extradition to the US. Huawei is accused of violating US sanctions on Iran.
Beijing threatened Canada with “grave consequences” if she was not immediately freed.
Ottawa has repeatedly said the arrest was not political, but rather a judicial process in keeping with an extradition treaty with Washington.
In an interview with CTV News on Sunday, Trudeau expressed concerns about the effects of the US-China trade war on Canada, which has been pushing for a free-trade deal with the latter.
“One of the things that we have to understand is when there is a conflict like this ... where we’re talking about an escalating trade war, we’re talking about significant clashes between the world’s two largest economies,” he said. “There are going to be unintended consequences all around the world, including in Canada.”
Canadian companies operating in China have not reported significant difficulties amid the diplomatic crisis.
However, coat manufacturer Canada Goose this week postponed the opening of a new store in Beijing for “construction reasons.”
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese