Is this one of the "severe" reprisals threatened by Beijing when it summoned Canada's ambassador to Beijing for a meeting over the weekend?

According to Reuters, former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig has been detained in China. Kovrig's employer, International Crisis Group, is working to secure his "safe" release.

The reason for Kovrig's detention wasn't immediately clear, and Beijing has refused to comment on his detention. However, Reuters noted that the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou has "stoked fears of reprisals."

"International Crisis Group is aware of reports that its North East Asia Senior Adviser, Michael Kovrig, has been detained in China," the think-tank said in a statement.

"We are doing everything possible to secure additional information on Michael’s whereabouts as well as his prompt and safe release," it added.

China’s Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Public Security did not respond immediately to questions faxed earlier about Kovrig’s detention.

The exact reason for the detention was not immediately clear. The Canadian embassy declined to comment, referring queries to Ottawa.

Kovrig, a Mandarin speaker, has been working for the ICG as an in-house "expert" since February 2017. Prior to that, he served as a diplomat for the Canadian government between 2003 and 2016, with stints in Hong Kong and Beijing.

And while it's possible that the timing of Kovrig's arrest is purely coincidental, the timing is certainly suspicious.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-11/china-arrests-former-canadian-diplomat-government-fears-reprisal-huawei-cfo

>>4256577

[Editor’s note: The apparently murdered journalist Khashoggi has been painted by the Western MSM in a very positive light, much mention of his opposition to the Saudi regime, a whitewashing of a man with a shady past and some very unsavoury ‘friends’.

He had a long track record, over 30 years, of supporting and propagandising on behalf of some of the worst, most murderous and criminal groups to have benighted the Middle East. In the 1980s he was to be found in the mountains of Afghanistan with the ‘freedom fighters’ who were battling the Soviet Union, in reality, Takfiri mercenaries recruited and financed by the Saudis. More recently he has been a supporter of ISIS and the writer of much vile black propaganda targeted at Syria and Iraq.

My take on his murder (and he surely was murdered, otherwise the Saudis would have produced evidence to the contrary) is that it is part of the ongoing power struggle within the kingdom that has seen many members of the extended and large ruling clan either executed or imprisoned. This factional infighting is due to the advanced age and infirmity of the King; several factions oppose the choice of Prince Bin Salman to lead the House of Saud and they have found themselves brutally and ruthlessly countered by the young prince.

Khashoggi was a supporter of one of the factions opposed to Bin Salman and his job as a journalist with international recognition made him dangerous – he could drum up all kinds of international opprobrium against the Prince’s rule. Murder is never to be condoned, but in this case, the victim was hardly the lily white innocent victim he has been painted as.

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2018/10/14/khashoggi-will-not-be-missed-by-many/