FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2018, file photo, visitors look at a display for 5G wireless technology from Chinese technology firm Huawei at the PT Expo in Beijing. While a Huawei executive faces possible U.S. charges over trade with Iran, the Chinese tech giant's ambition to be a leader in next-generation telecoms is colliding with security worries abroad. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
The Associated Press
TORONTO (AP) - Canada's ambassador to China was given access Sunday to detained Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor six days after he was arrested, the country's Global Affairs department said.
Ambassador John McCallum also met with ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig on Friday. Both were detained in China last Monday in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive on behalf of the United States.
Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on Dec. 1 on U.S. charges that she misled banks about the company's business dealings in Iran. Canada gave Huawei chief financial officer Meng - daughter of the telecom giant's founder - access to Chinese consular staff on the day she was arrested and three days of public hearings before releasing her on bail. Members of Vancouver's large Chinese community who came to court to show their support cheered her release.
By contrast, the Chinese secretly detained the two Canadians on suspicions of "engaging in activities that endanger the national security of China."
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called the detention of the Canadian citizens unlawful and said they should be released.
Entrepreneur Spavor is known for his contacts in China with high-ranking North Korean officials, including leader Kim Jong Un, with whom he has been photographed shaking hands and laughing. He was instrumental in bringing NBA player Dennis Rodman to Pyongyang in 2013 and has organized a number of tours and projects with the reclusive country since then.
In 2015, Spavor founded Paektu Cultural Exchange, a nongovernmental organization that works to facilitate sports, cultural, tourism and business exchanges with North Korea. Its mission statement says it aims to "promote greater peace, friendship and understanding."
In this image made from video taken on March 11, 2016, entrepreneur Michael Spavor speaks during a friendly ice hockey match between visiting foreigners and North Korean players in Pyongyang, North Korea. A second Canadian man is feared detained in China in what appears to be retaliation for Canada's arrest of a top executive of telecommunications giant Huawei. The possible arrest raises the stakes in an international dispute that threatens relations. Canada's Global Affairs department on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, said Spavor, an entrepreneur who is one of the only Westerners to have met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, had gone missing in China. Spavor's disappearance follows China's detention of a former Canadian diplomat in Beijing earlier this week. (AP Photo)
The Associated Press
In this image made from video taken on March 2, 2017, Michael Spavor, director of Paektu Cultural Exchange, talks during a Skype interview in Yangi, China. A second Canadian man is feared detained in China in what appears to be retaliation for Canada's arrest of a top executive of telecommunications giant Huawei. The possible arrest raises the stakes in an international dispute that threatens relations. Canada's Global Affairs department on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, said Spavor, an entrepreneur who is one of the only Westerners to have met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, had gone missing in China. Spavor's disappearance follows China's detention of a former Canadian diplomat in Beijing earlier this week. (AP Photo)
The Associated Press
Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou talks with a member of her private security detail after they went into a wrong building while arriving at a parole office in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Associated Press
Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou arrives at a parole office with a security guard in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Associated Press