Canada’s foreign service confirmed that a third national was being held in China, the National Post newspaper reported, citing a statement from Global Affairs Canada.
An agency spokesperson provided no further details, and drew no link between the case and those of two other Canadians detained last week in China, the National Post said. The Canadian Embassy in Beijing referred questions of the third case to public relations staff in Ottawa, who didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The report will likely fuel anxiety among Canadians traveling in China after the country’s spy agency detained a former diplomat and a man who helped organize tourist trips to North Korea. The cases follow Canada’s Dec. 1 arrest of Huawei Technologies Co. Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou as part of a U.S.-led extradition bid, although Beijing has deflected questions about any link between the detentions and the Chinese executive’s case.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular briefing in Beijing on Wednesday that she wasn’t aware of the report of a third detained Canadian. A faxed request for comment sent to the Ministry of Public Security wasn’t immediately answered.
The moves have prompted people on both sides to reconsider travel to each other’s countries. The national Canadian body that markets the country as a tourist destination is halting new advertisements in China, CBC News reported Wednesday.
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