With China’s History of Arbitrary Detention of Canadians, Dissidents Warn Against Visa-Free Travel

Feb 20, 2026 - 10:50

Updated: 4 months ago

With China’s History of Arbitrary Detention of Canadians, Dissidents Warn Against Visa-Free Travel

China watchers are warning against travel to China after Beijing said Canadians can travel there visa-free as Ottawa pursues closer ties with China.

Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Canada-based Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, reacted to the announcement that Canadian passport holders can now travel to China without a visa, saying Canadian citizens who have been detained in China should be released and returned home.

“Only then can [China’s] claims of sincerity and goodwill be taken seriously,” Tohti said in a Feb. 17 post on X.

Tohti highlighted the case of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen and Uyghur human rights activist, who was abducted in 2006 while visiting family in Uzbekistan and taken to China, where he was sentenced to life in prison 20 years ago. Tohti noted that Celil has never been granted a consular visit, and reliable information regarding his current whereabouts has not been provided.

“To this day, Canada does not know whether he is alive or dead. No one has seen or spoken to him since his disappearance,” Tohti said, adding that if China is “serious about goodwill,” it should immediately grant visa-free entry to Celil’s wife and four children, who are Canadian citizens.

“If that is deemed ‘too difficult,’ then release Huseyin Celil immediately, issue a formal apology, provide compensation, and return him to Canada,” Tohti said.

China says Canadian passport holders are now able to travel to China without needing a visa for tourism and business stays of up to 30 days. The new policy came into effect on Feb. 17 and will be effective until Dec. 31, China’s foreign affairs ministry said.

“We’re renewing Canada’s relationship with China,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a Feb. 16 post on X. “As part of our new strategic partnership, China is granting visa-free travel for Canadians.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said the new policy will make travel easier, support business exchanges, and strengthen “people-to-people ties” between Canada and China.

After Carney’s trip to China in January, the Prime Minister’s Office had said Carney welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s “commitment to introducing visa-free access for Canadians travelling to China,” and said Ottawa and Beijing would “explore further opportunities for cultural exchanges and partnerships” to increase travel exchanges and cultural ties.

Other Canadians Detained

China watchers are voicing concern about increasing travel to China, noting cases of other Canadian citizens being detained by the Chinese regime. Canadian Falun Gong practitioner Sun Qian was arbitrarily detained at her residence in Beijing in February 2017. In June 2020, she was sentenced to eight years in prison by a Beijing court for practising Falun Gong, and human rights groups noted she was forced to renounce her Canadian citizenship.

Advocacy groups, such as the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, have called for Sun’s immediate release, with the Centre saying in a February 2025 statement that Sun has been denied legal counsel and subjected to torture and “inhumane conditions” while in detention.

Sun Qian, a Falun Dafa practitioner who has been illegally detained in China since February 2017, in an undated photo. The Epoch Times/Handout

In the most high-profile case, Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained by Chinese authorities in 2018 for over 1,000 days. Their imprisonment was widely viewed as retaliation by Beijing following Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition request in late 2018. Both Kovrig and Spavor were released in 2021 shortly after Meng’s release.

Kovrig commented on the deal between Ottawa and Beijing after Carney noted on social media on Jan. 17 that “China has committed to soon allowing Canadians to visit without a visa.” In response to Carney’s post, Kovrig said on Feb. 12, “Does that include me?”

In another case in 2016, Canadian winery owners John Chang and Allison Lu were charged with smuggling for allegedly misreporting the value of ice wine they exported to China. Lu was released in 2017 but her passport was confiscated, while Chang spent five years in prison.

The now-closed coffee shop owned by Canadian couple Kevin and Julia Garratt in Dandong, China, on Aug. 5, 2014. Ben Blanchard/Reuters

In 2014, Canadian couple Kevin and Julia Garratt, who owned a coffee shop in Dandong, were detained in China and accused of espionage, after Chinese national Su Bin was arrested in Canada for hacking into a U.S. military database. Su was arrested on an extradition request from the United States. Julia Garratt was released in 2015, while Kevin Garratt was detained until 2016.

Seeking Closer Ties

Carney recently signed a series of agreements with Beijing while in China in January, in an effort to ease tariffs between the two countries and seek closer ties.

After his trip to China, Carney said relations between Ottawa and Beijing had entered “a new area,” and that the two countries had entered a “strategic partnership.” This new approach to Canada-China relations represents a striking shift in tone from when Carney described China as Canada’s “biggest security threat” during the 2025 election campaign.

Responding to Carney’s announcement about China’s new visa-free travel policy for Canadians, Conservative MP Shuv Majumdar asked the prime minister in a Feb. 17 social media post what his travel advice is for Canadians who “profoundly disagree with Beijing’s authoritarian repression.”

“Will you look them in the eye and tell them it is safe to travel? That they won’t be taken hostage for CCP extortion?” Majumdar said. “Or is your advice to these Canadians to curtail their conscience and their freedom in Canada instead?”

Prime Minister Mark Carney waves as he departs Beijing on Jan. 17, 2026, on route to Doha, Qatar. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Travel Restrictions

China previously used travel restrictions as a pressure tactic, leaving Canada off its list of approved destination countries for group tours in 2023.

At that time, China had eased COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions for other countries, but said its decision to continue to restrict travel to Canada was due to remarks against China. The issue of Chinese interference in elections and meddling in Canada’s other democratic institutions was then a subject of public inquiry and media scrutiny.

However, as Ottawa began seeking closer ties with China in late 2025, Beijing lifted this restriction and allowed group tour operators to resume travel to Canada last November.

China has also used travel restrictions against other nations, such as by keeping Taiwan off its list of approved destinations amid Beijing’s takeover ambitions. Additionally, China banned all group tours to South Korea in 2017 after Seoul deployed a U.S. defence system, which Beijing worried could penetrate Chinese territory.

Beijing also warned the public against travelling to Australia in 2020, citing racial discrimination and violence in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, but didn’t give any specific examples. Australia rejected China’s accusations, which came amid accusations by Australia that China was meddling in its affairs.

Last April, the Chinese regime announced a new round of visa restrictions on U.S. officials in retaliation for the U.S. State Department’s efforts to address challenges faced by American diplomats in accessing Tibetan areas in China.

Omid Ghoreishi and Reuters contributed to this report.