China on Monday denied that two Canadian citizens held for almost two years had been “arbitrarily” detained in response to Canada’s arrest of an executive of technology giant Huawei. Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian’s denial came days after China granted consular access to Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for the first time since January. Canada’s government on Saturday issued a statement saying it remains “deeply concerned by the arbitrary detention by Chinese authorities” of the two, and called for their immediate release.
