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Sarah Zheng

Canadian teacher Sarah McIver has been given an “administrative punishment” for working illegally in China, Beijing said on Thursday.
McIver was the third Canadian to be detained in China in recent weeks, and news of her being sentenced removes a thorn in the diplomatic saga between the two countries that started with Ottawa’s arrest of Chinese tech executive Sabrina Meng Wanzhou.
China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing that a Canadian citizen had been “administratively punished” by local police for illegal employment.
“There is unimpeded consular communication between China and Canada, and China will provide necessary assistance for Canada to perform its consular duties normally,” she said.


Canadian newspaper the National Post reported on Wednesday that arrangements were being made for McIver, originally from Alberta, to return to Canada after she was detained over a visa irregularity.
Her detention came during rising tensions between Beijing and Ottawa following the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng in Vancouver on December 1.
The executive was later released on bail, but as the daughter of the founder of Huawei, one of China’s most high-profile technology firms, the case sparked anger in China for what many saw as a politically motivated move orchestrated by Washington.
These are the Canadians who paid millions in bail for Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou, putting homes and retirement savings on the line
China’s foreign ministry had threatened “serious consequences” if Canadian authorities did not immediately release Meng, instead of extraditing her to the US to face fraud charges relating to breaking sanctions against Iran.
In what many saw as a retaliatory measure by Beijing on December 10 detained two Canadian nationals – former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor – for activities it said “endanger China’s nationals security”.
Kovrig worked as an analyst for the International Crisis Group and Spavor was based in the Chinese city of Dandong with business connections to North Korea.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said he favoured the de-escalation of tensions with China over Meng’s case, noting that the McIver case appeared to be routine and unrelated to the detentions of Kovrig and Spavor.

“There are tens of thousands of Canadians that live, travel and work in China,” he said at a year-end news conference in Ottawa.
The McIver case “doesn’t seem to fit the pattern of facts on the previous two”, he said.
McIver had reportedly been teaching in China for several months before her detention, after school officials transferred her to a school in a different city from the one where she was originally hired, according to the National Post.
China’s ambassador to Canada Lu Shaye wrote last Thursday in an opinion piece for Canada’s The Globe and Mail that Meng’s detention was “groundless”, and that those accusing China of a retaliatory act should “first reflect on the actions of the Canadian side”.
“It is both ignominious and hypocritical to revile China with double standards,” he wrote.
Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat in Beijing and political science professor at Brock University, said the “heavy-handed” detention of McIver would raise concern among Canadians about visiting China for fear of “largely arbitrary arrest and petty harassment of this nature”.


“It is connected to the general attempt by the government of China to engage in anti-Canada harassing behaviour at all levels,” he said, referencing reported boycotts of winter clothing brand Canada Goose and Canadian business meeting cancellations in China.
“The level of lurid criticism of the government of Canada and the slanderous comments about the nature of the Canadian government and the motivations of the Trudeau government ... are designed to continue to pressure Canada so that Ms Meng is not transported to the US.”
Burton said those efforts to pressure Ottawa would continue, “even though it’s pretty apparent that the government of Canada is going to go through the full extradition process”.
“I do expect it to continue, I don’t think the rhetoric will be reduced, and I will expect that we will see many more incidents like this,” he said.
‘We were hoping China would react differently’: past Canadian detainees
Jane Duckett, professor of Chinese politics at the University of Glasgow, said there had been more scrutiny of minor transgressions committed by foreign nationals in China, so McIver’s detention may not be seen as reprisal in the same way as the other two cases.
“There’s no mention of state security in this particular case,” she said. “That doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been ordered from the top down, or even lower level people might be acting on their own, somehow being a little more ... stringent in pursuing transgressions just because it’s a Canadian, in the spirit of the general situation.”
Duckett added that the apparent targeting of Canadian citizens in China appeared in tandem with a more assertive international stance that the Chinese party state had taken under Xi Jinping.
“It seems to fit with that mode of being a little more assertive and pushing back internationally, more overtly, even though they’re not admitting it,” she said.


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Huawei Technologies

Third detained Canadian Sarah McIver given ‘administrative punishment’ for working illegally in China

Tensions have been rising between China and Canada since the arrest of Huawei executive Sabrina Meng in Vancouver on December 1. Photo: Handout.

Detained Canadian in China Michael Spavor’s friends raise cash to help him after his release

Canadian businessman Michael Spavor poses with girls at a school in North Korea. The characters read: “Let’s study for Korea!” Photo: Reuters

Third Canadian detained in China, but PM Justin Trudeau doubts link to arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou

A third Canadian has been detained in China, as a diplomatic row between Beijing and Ottawa deepens. Photo: Shutterstock

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau scratches his forehead as he listens to a question during an end of session news conference in Ottawa, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

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)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on April 26, 2017 Undated portrait picture released on December 11, 2018 in Washington by the International Crisis Group of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig. - Canada's ambassador to China has been granted consular access to a Kovrig held by Beijing, the foreign ministry said on December 14, 2018. "Ambassador (John) McCallum met with him in Beijing," said a statement, adding that Ottawa was pressing for access to Michael Spavor, a second national detained in China. (Photo by Julie DAVID DE LOSSY / CRISIGROUP / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / CRISISGROUP/Julie David de Lossy" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

These are the Canadians who paid millions in bail for Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou, putting homes and retirement savings on the line

News media follow a car carrying Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou and her security detail as they departs Meng's home after she was released on bail in Vancouver, British Columbia on December 12, 2018. - Meng Wanzhou was released on Can$10 million (US$7.5 million) bail on December 11 in a case that has rattled relations between China, the US and Canada. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP)

An undated family photo showing Sabrina Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver with family members. The photo, which was provided to the BC Supreme Court in support of her bail application, was redacted at her lawyers' request. Photo: BC Supreme Court exhibit

Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co., right, leaves her home under the supervision of security in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. President Donald Trump is talking about wading into the legal fight of the Huawei CFO, saying in an interview that he would intervene in U.S. efforts to extradite Meng if it helped him win a trade deal with China. Photographer: Ben Nelms/Bloomberg

Huawei CFO Sabrina Meng Wanzhou in an undated family photo taken in Vancouver, provided to the BC Supreme Court in support of her recent bail application. At right is a redacted affidavit by one of the Vancouver residents who helped pay her bail. Photos: BC Supreme Court exhibits

‘Nothing he was doing was in any way secret’, detained Canadian Michael Kovrig’s employer Crisis Group says

Michael Kovrig has been detained in China, accused of activities “that endanger China’s national security”. Photo: Reuters

PHWXTC Milan, Italy - August 20, 2018: International Crisis Group website homepage. International Crisis Group logo visible.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on January 8, 2014 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 9, 2014 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (R) speaking with former US basketball star Dennis Rodman (not in picture) as Michael Spavor (L) listens at Pyongyang Gymnasium in Pyongyang. - Ottawa on December 13, 2018 identified the second Canadian questioned in China as Michael Spavor, and said he has been missing since he last made contact with Canadian officials. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / KCNA / AFP) / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY AFP. /

Arrest of Huawei CFO Sabrina Meng Wanzhou may kill Canada’s hopes for free trade deal with China

Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou arrives at a parole office in Vancouver on December 12. Photo: The Canadian Press via AP

Chinese police patrol in front of the Canadian embassy in Beijing on December 13, 2018. - A second Canadian who had gone missing in China is under investigation on suspicion of "engaging in activities that harm China's national security", state media reported on December 13. Security has been stepped up outside the embassy since Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, was arrested in Canada, at Washington's request. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)

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China

Diplomacy

China says it will provide ‘necessary assistance for Canada to perform its consular duties’ so teacher can return home


China says it will provide ‘necessary assistance for Canada to perform its consular duties’ so teacher can return home.


Third detained Canadian Sarah McIver given ‘administrative punishment’ for working illegally in China

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}China says it will provide ‘necessary assistance for Canada to perform its consular duties’ so teacher can return home

China says it will provide ‘necessary assistance for Canada to perform its consular duties’ so teacher can return home