Detained Canadians in China get rare consular access

TORONTO -- Canada says China granted consular access to two detained Canadians in China for the first time since January.

The Global Affairs department says Canada's Ambassador to China was granted virtual consular access to Michael Spavor on Friday and virtual consular access to Michael Kovrig on Saturday.

Canada continues to press Beijing to release Kovrig and Spavor, both detained since December 2018 following Canada's arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a Chinese Huawei official and the daughter of the company's founder.

Canadian police detained Meng in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition request nine days before Kovrig and Spavor were arrested.

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  Michael Kovrig (left) and Michael Spavor, the two Canadians detained in China, are shown in these 2018 images taken from video. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP