Pence Says Trump Will Raise Korvrig Case With Xi

US Vice-President Mike Pence has urged Beijing to release two Canadians, including a Hong Kong-based former diplomat, and said the US would raise the matter with President Xi Jinping next month.

Michael Kovrig, who works out of Hong Kong for the international NGO Crisis Group, and businessman Michael Spavor were detained in apparent retaliation for the December 1 arrest of a top Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, in Vancouver on a US warrant.

Speaking at a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa, Pence said the pair "have been wrongfully detained for the last six months without due process of law".

"We stand with Canada in this cause," Pence said.

Pence added that US President Donald Trump was expected to raise the issue with Xi on the sidelines of an upcoming G20 summit, a meeting expected to be heavily focused on resolving the escalating trade frictions between Washington and Beijing.

He also urged Canada to exclude Huawei equipment from its next-generation wireless networks, known as 5G. The US claims Huawei is legally beholden to the Communist Party, which could order it to spy on their behalf.

"We have been very clear with Canada and our allies that we consider Huawei incompatible with the security interests of the United States of America and our allies," Pence said.

Trudeau said Canada's national security agencies were studying it and said Canada would make a decision based on evidence and facts. "Political considerations will not come into our reflections," Trudeau said. (AFP/AP)