Canada raises detained citizens with China

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Friday she had spoken to her Chinese counterpart in their first public meeting since the countries became embroiled in a diplomatic spat over two Canadians detained in China.

Freeland told reporters she brought up the arrests of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor with Wang Yi during a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Thailand.

Their detention in December last year came amid a diplomatic crisis sparked by the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer for Chinese tech giant Huawei, in Vancouver on a US extradition bid.

"I took the opportunity to express Canada's concern over the case of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor," Freeland said during a videoconference from Bangkok.

"The fact that we were able to speak and discuss these issues face-to-face directly with one another absolutely is a positive step."

During their conversation, Wang expressed his own concerns over Wanzhou's extradition process, ...