BEIJING has confirmed that it has detained two Canadians, raising the stakes in a three-way dispute over Chinese technology executive Meng Wanzhou facing extradition from Canada to the United States.
Entrepreneur Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig are being held on suspicion of “engaging in activities that endanger the national security” of China, said foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang.
He said the cases were being handled separately by local bureaux of the national intelligence agency in Beijing, where Mr Kovrig was picked up, and the north-eastern city of Dandong, where Mr Spavor lived.
Trump threatens war and punitive tariffs to recapture Iranian resources – just as in 1953, when the CIA overthrew Mossadegh and US corporations immediately seized 40% of the oil, says SEVIM DAGDELEN
The cancelled China trip of the German Foreign Minister marks a break with Helmut Schmidt’s China policy and drives Germany further into Washington’s confrontation course, warns SEVIM DAGDELEN
From anonymous surveys claiming Chinese students are spying on each other to a meltdown about the size of China’s London embassy, the evidence is everywhere that Britain is embracing full spectrum Sinophobia as the war clouds gather, writes CARLOS MARTINEZ


