U.S., Canada call on China to release detained Canadians

FILE PHOTO: Michael Kovrig, an employee with the International Crisis Group and former Canadian diplomat appears in this photo provided by the International Crisis Group in Brussels, Belgium, December 11, 2018. Courtesy CRISISGROUP/Julie David de Lossy/Handout via REUTERS

WASHINGTON/VANCOUVER (Reuters) - The United States joined Canada on Friday in calling on Beijing to release two Canadians detained in what are widely believed to be tit-for-tat arrests related to the high-profile detention in Canada of an executive of a major Chinese corporation.

China last week detained two Canadians - Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat and an adviser with the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank, and businessman Michael Spavor - after Canadian police arrested Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on Dec 1.