China confirms arrest of two Canadians

Chinese officials confirmed Thursday that they have detained a second Canadian citizen amid an ongoing rift over the arrest of a top executive of a Chinese telecom company. Authorities arrested entrepreneur Michael Spavor, who is known for having contact with high-ranking North Korean officials, on Monday, in addition to former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig. Spavor organized tours of North Korea through his company, Paektu Cultural Exchange. Canadian officials confirmed a day earlier that Chinese authorities had detained Kovrig, an analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

The arrests follow Canada’s detention of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, the largest global supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies. Police arrested Meng on Dec. 1 on behalf of the United States at an airport in Vancouver after she arrived on a flight from Hong Kong. A Canadian court on Wednesday released her on bail and ordered her to hand over her passport. Meng faces possible extradition to the United States to face charges that Huawei violated U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Chinese authorities arrested both Canadian men for “engaging in activities that endanger the national security of China,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. Lu added that separate bureaus of its national intelligence agency are handling the cases in Beijing and Dandong and that “the legal rights of the two Canadians are being safeguarded.”