China says no info on detained Canadian

China's Foreign Ministry says it has no information about a former Canadian diplomat believed to have been detained in Beijing in retaliation for Canada's arrest of a leading Chinese executive.

While declining to confirm the detention of Michael Kovrig, ministry spokesman Lu Kang says the International Crisis Group for whom he is an analyst based in Hong Kong was not registered in China and its activities in the country would be illegal.

The International Crisis Group says Kovrig, who previously was a diplomat in China and elsewhere, was taken into custody by the Beijing Bureau of Chinese State Security on Monday night during one of his regular visits to Beijing.

Lu repeated China's demand for the immediate release of Meng Wanzhou, a leading executive with Chinese communications equipment maker Huawei.

The US accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment to Iran in violation of US sanctions and that Meng misled banks about the company's business dealings in Iran.