Pompeo Hits Out At China Over Canadians' Detention

The United States is working to secure the release of two Canadians held by China, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday, calling their detention "arbitrary and unacceptable" after he met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other Canadian officials.

The two Canadians – Hong Kong-based former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor – were detained in December and accused of espionage.

The detentions came nine days after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a US warrant. While no official link was made, the arrest of the two men was widely viewed as retaliation.

"Please note that our team is focused on helping those two Canadians be released," Pompeo told Trudeau. "We're working on it diligently."

"It's wrong that they are being held," he added.

Pompeo was in Ottawa to discuss trade, China and the upcoming G7 summit with Trudeau and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.

He also met Canadian business executives – including Canada's largest agricultural exporter Richardson International, which saw its canola shipments to China blocked this year.

Later, Pompeo told a joint press conference with Freeland: "The United States stands with Canada in the face of China's arbitrary and unacceptable detention of Canadian citizens."

He noted that US President Donald Trump has raised their detention directly with President Xi Jinping and "made unambiguous America's concern about this inappropriate behaviour." (AFP)