Meng Wanzhou: Second Canadian man feared detained in China following Huawei CFO's arrest

The possible arrest raises the stakes in an international dispute that further threatens relations.

Canada’s Global Affairs department said that Michael Spavor, an entrepreneur who is one of the only westerners to have met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, had gone missing in China.

Mr Spavor’s disappearance follows China’s detention of a former Canadian diplomat in Beijing earlier this week.

“We have been unable to make contact (with Mr Spavor) since he let us know he was being questioned by Chinese authorities,” Global Affairs spokesman Guillaume Berube said.

“We are working very hard to ascertain his whereabouts and we continue to raise this with the Chinese government.”

The alleged arrests follow Meng Wanzhou’s arrest in Canada on 1 December at the request of the US.

The 46-year-old Chinese executive, who is the daughter of Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei, is alleged to have used Hong Kong company Skycom to access the Iranian market in deals that violated US sanctions.

On Wednesday, she was granted bail by a Canadian court, confining her to Vancouver and its suburbs while she awaits possible extradition.

The list of strict conditions of her release pending the outcome of the extradition case is lengthy, and includes the surrender of her passports and electronic monitoring.

Beijing has expressed outrage over Meng’s detention in Vancouver, ratcheting up tensions in the US-China trade dispute.

Mr Spavor’s disappearance is likely to further escalate the diplomatic row.

A fluent Korean speaker, Mr Spavor has longstanding ties to the North through his company, Paektu Cultural Exchange.

He helped bring NBA player Dennis Rodman to Pyongyang in 2013 and has organized a number of tours and joint cultural projects with the North since then.

Acquaintances said he was due in Seoul on Monday, but never showed up.

Canada’s announcement came hours after foreign minister Chrystia Freeland said she was worried another citizen had been detained in China following Monday’s arrest of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig in Beijing.

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