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China rejected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s claim that a Canadian detained last month in Beijing was entitled to diplomatic protections against prosecution.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said that Michael Kovrig, who’s on leave from the Canadian foreign service, wasn’t entitled to diplomatic immunity. Kovrig — now a regional adviser for the Brussels-based International Crisis Group — entered China on a business visa, she said.

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“I would suggest the Canadian study the Vienna Convention before making such a comment, so as not to be inaccurate and make oneself a laughing stock,” Hua said, in response to a question about Trudeau’s remarks. “Michael Korvig doesn’t enjoy diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention. He is not currently a diplomat.”

Kovrig was detained by China’s spy agency on suspicion of “activities endangering national security” on Dec. 10, days after Canada arrested a Huawei Technologies Co. executive as part of a U.S.-led extradition effort. The cases — as well as the Chinese spy agency’s detention of a second Canadian, Michael Spavor — have sparked an escalating diplomatic feud between the two sides.