China issues travel alert telling citizens they could be ‘arbitrarily detained’ in Canada a day after Ottawa issued similar warning
- Foreign ministry in Beijing issues warning a day after similar warning by Canadians
- Alert comes a day after a Chinese court sentenced a Canadian citizen to death for drug offences
China issued a travel warning of the risk of travelling to Canada on Tuesday – hours after Ottawa issued a similar alert.
A notice by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Chinese citizens should be aware of the risks of being “arbitrarily detained at the request of a third nation” in Canada, and urged caution when making travel plans.
On Tuesday, Canada has warned its citizens of the “risk of arbitrary enforcement of local laws” in China after a Canadian citizen, Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, was sentenced to death for drug offences in a retrial that further escalated tensions.
The two countries have been at loggerheads since the detention last month of Huawei executive Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, whom the US wants to extradite on fraud charges.
The Chinese authorities detained two other Canadians, the former diplomat Michael Kovrig and the businessman Michael Spavor, soon after Meng’s arrest.