Nearly 100 Canadians are being held in Chinese prisons, says Global Affairs Canada. The latest figures follow an appeal from the Chinese Embassy that Canadian visitors should not fear arbitrary arrest.

“Approximately 100 Canadians are detained in China at any given time on a broad range of offences from basic infractions, e.g. immigration violations, to more serious charges such as drug trafficking and fraud,” said a June 17 briefing book for the deputy foreign minister. "These figures are subject to change,” it said. 

According to national security sources, then-Liberal MP Han Dong, who benefited from Chinese influence in his Toronto riding, privately advised a senior Chinese diplomat not to free Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in February 2021. The 'two Michaels' faced inhumane treatment while in prison, which China refuted.

Both sources claimed Dong proposed to Han Tao, China's consul general in Toronto, that releasing the two Michaels would benefit the Conservatives in the polls at the time, a request that he denied ever making. 

Though China accused the two Michaels of espionage, their jailing was perceived as retribution for Canada's detention of Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei executive who previously faced extradition to the United States.

While Canada has yet to arrest a single Chinese official with alleged ties to foreign intimidation campaigns, a recent report showed 97 Canadian citizens are in Chinese custody.

Beijing has more Canadians in its custody than any other country outside the United States, revealed a parliamentary inquiry. It said that 910 Canadians are in foreign custody worldwide. 

Cabinet counted 557 Canadians in U.S. jails, followed by 97 in China, 28 in Australia, 24 in Japan, 16 in the United Kingdom, 9 in Turkey, 7 in Mexico, 6 in Cuba, 4 in Vietnam and 1 in Singapore, reported Blacklock’s Reporter.

The document did not name the Canadians held in Chinese custody. The Department of Foreign Affairs has previously invoked the Privacy Act in refusing to discuss individual cases.

MPs at the Commons Special Committee on Canada-China Relations earlier expressed frustration with the lack of information on Canadians detained in the People’s Republic. “It shouldn’t take a crisis for people to get basic information,” Conservative MP Dan Albas told a 2020 hearing.

Chinese authorities earlier described their country as safe and pleasant for Canadian visitors. “China is not a police state,” then-Ambassador Cong Peiwu said in a 2021 speech at Memorial University. “It is nothing like that.”

Chinese authorities have repeatedly denied ill-treatment of Canadians detained abroad.

In a separate 2020 interview with the periodical Ottawa Life Magazine, the Ambassador said Canadians jailed in China did not receive “harsh treatment” and blamed the media for depicting China as a police state.

“Of course, if a very, very small number of people engage in those criminal activities, whether it’s Canadians or other nationalities, of course it’s quite reasonable and justified for us to take relevant measures,” said Cong.

“But I think for the vast majority of people, they should not be worried,” he added.

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