Another Canadian citizen detained in China amid diplomatic row

A Canadian citizen has been detained in Yantai, a city in northeastern China, Global Affairs Canada said on Saturday.

After quoting a spokesman for the Global Affairs Canada, CNN reported that Canadian officials are providing consular assistance to the man who has been arrested.

The detention comes amid heightened tensions between Ottawa and Beijing over the ongoing detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have been held since December and were formally arrested in May on national security grounds.

Kovrig and Spavor were detained following the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the Chief Financial Officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei, in Canada.

Meng was taken into custody on December 1, 2018, in Vancouver on behalf of the United States on charges of suspected violations of US sanctions against Iran. She is currently awaiting trial.

As relations between the two countries continued to worsen, last month China banned import of all meat from Canada claiming that customs documents had been forged by Canadian exporters.

There is currently no indication that the detention of the latest Canadian, who officials did not name citing privacy legislation, is related to the Kovrig and Spavor case.

The move comes after police in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu arrested over a dozen foreigners on suspicion of drug offences.

On Friday, the UK Foreign Office said four British citizens had also been detained in Jiangsu.