A Canadian teacher who recently became the third Canadian detained in China this month has been sentenced to administrative punishment for illegal employment, according to a spokesperson for the Chinese government.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters during a briefing today that Sarah McIver, who according to the The Canadian Press is from Alberta, was sentenced to an administrative punishment, but did not provide further details on what that means.
Global Affairs Canada said that as of Thursday morning, officials still had not had consular access to McIver. Hua said there is smooth communication between China and Canada in the McIver case, and her government will allow Canada to perform its normal consular duties.
A source told CBC News she was teaching in China when she was detained.
Erin O’Toole, the Conservative foreign affairs critic, said in an interview with CBC News the woman’s family told his office that McIver had been working in China for months without problems when Chinese authorities suddenly reached out to question her about her visa. She was then arrested, leaving her family deeply concerned.
A source who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed Canadian officials did not find out about this latest detention from their Chinese counterparts.
Other Canadians held for ‘national security’ issues
Hua said her arrest isn’t linked to national security issues, as is the case with the other two Canadian detentions.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made similar comments during a year-end news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday.
“We’ve only got the preliminary indications … that it’s not linked to a matter of national security for the Chinese,” he said.
“The two situations are very different. The allegations of national security problems, even objectively, are very different from a routine case or a problem with a visa or something of that nature.”
Michael Spavor and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig were taken into custody earlier this week, Chinese officials say. (Associated Press/ International Crisis Group/Canadian Press)
Canada has faced a wave of criticism from Chinese officials and state media since Meng Wanzhou, a top executive with China-based telecom giant Huawei, was arrested in Vancouver earlier this month. Meng was arrested at the request of U.S. officials and released on bail pending extradition proceedings.
Not long after Meng’s arrest, Chinese officials confirmed two Canadian men had been detained on national security concerns.
One of the two men, Michael Kovrig, served as a diplomat with GAC but was on leave to work with a non-governmental organization at the time of his arrest in China. The other, Michael Spavor, is a businessman who arranges tours of North Korea.
Calling Chinese president is ‘complicated:’ Trudeau
When Trudeau was asked whether he thought it was time for him to reach out personally to Chinese President Xi Jinping and formally request the release of Kovrig and Spavor, he said there needs to be a unique approach to each case.
“When I was in opposition … I remember standing in the House and challenging [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper to pick up the phone and get this Canadian released. I now understand that it’s always a lot more complicated than that,” he said.
“Sometimes, politicizing or amplifying the level of public discourse on this may be satisfying in the short term, but would not contribute to the outcome we all want, which is for Canadians to be safe and secure.”
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