Second Canadian Questioned By Chinese Authorities, His Whereabouts Unknown - Freeland

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2018) Ottawa is aware of a second Canadian questioned by Chinese authorities and is working to locate him, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said during a press conference.

"We are aware of a Canadian who got in touch with us because he was being asked questions by Chinese authorities," Freeland told reporters on Wednesday. "We have not been able to make contact with him since he let us know about this. We are working very hard to ascertain his whereabouts and we have also raised this case with Chinese authorities."

On Monday, Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat who now serves as a North East Asia senior adviser to transnational non-profit organization International Crisis Group, was detained in China, less than a week after Canada announced the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.

Freeland said the Canadian government is working to get Kovrig counselor access, which is the first step to better understand the situation.

She added the arrest is of particular concern taking into account that Kovrig is a former employee of the Canadian foreign ministry.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday it had no information related to the detention of Kovrig so far. It noted, however, that the International Crisis Group was not registered in China.