Beijing on Thursday confirmed it arrested Canadian Sarah McIver for “working illegally” in the country, following the detention of two other Canadians on national security grounds.

While Canadian authorities said the latest detention appears to be a routine visa case, it has nonetheless exacerbated concerns among Canadian expatriates in China — fearful that they too might be detained over a legal technicality.

“I think most Canadians that are here are living in fear at some level, a fear of losing what they have here, a fear of getting arrested, fear of retribution,” said Ricky Ng-Adam, founder of CoderBunker, a community of international software developers, who regularly travels to Shanghai for work.

“It’s a constant fear,” he said, adding that some of his compatriots self-censor their social media postings and try to keep a low profile.

Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and China-based business consultant Michael Spavor were detained on December 10 and accused of engaging in activities that “endanger China’s national security”.

Kovrig is a senior advisor at the International Crisis Group think tank, while Spavor facilitates trips to North Korea, including visits by former NBA star Dennis Rodman.

Though no link has officially been made between the three detentions, suspicions are mounting that China is holding at least two of the Canadian nationals in retaliation of Canada’s arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

The ambiguity surrounding the arrests has also added to the unease, said Canadian Adrian Wu, who frequently travels to China for both work and leisure.

“Even though the third person arrested is not related to the cases of the first two, people see the headlines and immediately think ‘a Canadian got taken’,” he said.

Ottawa has repeatedly said Meng’s arrest was not political but rather part of a judicial process in keeping with an extradition treaty with Washington.

Meng was released on bail last week in Vancouver pending her US extradition hearing on fraud charges related to sanctions-breaking business dealings with Iran.

Ottawa and Washington on Friday stepped up pressure on Beijing and called for the immediate release of Kovrig and Spavor.

Collateral damage

Observers say Canada is increasingly looking like collateral damage in a simmering US-China trade war, with Beijing at the same time working to ease trade tensions with Washington.

“Canada is really just caught in between the US and China, we’re like a scapegoat,” a businesswoman in education told AFP, requesting anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Like a number of Canadian expats, she is using the holidays as an excuse to stay out of the country.

“At least I can remain in North America to see how the situation will play out from a safe distance”, she said.

Others in the Canadian community, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they are making contingency plans to leave the country “just in case” the situation takes a turn for the worse.

It is now up to China to decide how much they want to escalate the situation, said Hugh Stephens, distinguished fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

“The Chinese aren’t going to influence the Canadian court system by whatever they do but there could be a lot of collateral damage, which could seriously potentially damage relationships in the long term,” he said.

Despite the volume of business between Canada and China, people might “start wondering whether or not they’d be targeted” and consider a “long Christmas holiday”, he added.

‘China’s way’

The fallout from the arrests could have implications beyond the immediate Canadian expat community, including researchers who visit China.

On Thursday, representatives of six Berlin-based institutions, which included the European Council for Foreign Relations and the German Marshall Fund, expressed concern about the spate of Canadians detained.

“Developments such as these increase uncertainty and distrust among foreign scholars who regularly conduct research within China, as they fear for their safety,” the joint statement said.

“This will clearly undermine efforts to better understand developments in China.”

Yet some feel there is no need to overreact, calling this “China’s way of dealing with things”.

“I’m not worried about this on a day-to-day basis and I certainly won’t change my daily activities because of a few people who have been detained,” financial analyst Scott Laprise told AFP.

“There’s always a sense at the back of my mind that something could happen, but that’s a part of living in China.”

The Canadian embassy and the Canadian China Business Council did not respond to AFP requests for comment.

“As part of our ongoing investigations into the criminal use of drones which has severely disrupted flights in and out of Gatwick Airport, Sussex Police made two arrests just after 10:00pm (2200 GMT) on December 21”, the force’s Superintendent James Collis said.

Drones were first sighted hovering around Britain’s second-busiest air hub on Wednesday, grinding the runway to a standstill and causing chaos for more than 120,000 people in the run-up to Christmas.

A statement released on Sussex Police force’s website said the probe was ongoing, and officers were using “a range of tactics” to “build resilience to detect and mitigate further incursions from drones”.

“We continue to urge the public, passengers and the wider community around Gatwick to be vigilant and support us by contacting us immediately if they believe they have any information that can help us in bringing those responsible to justice,” the statement added.

“Every line of enquiry will remain open to us until we are confident that we have mitigated further threats to the safety of passengers.”

    Environmentalists rescued “Alba” from a cage where she was being kept as a pet by villagers in Central Kalimantan in April last year.

She was found with dry blood smeared around her nose — the result of her violent capture — and weighed just 8 kilogrammes, the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) said.

The blue-eyed primate, covered in fuzzy white hair, was on Wednesday returned to the wild with her best friend, Kika, after leaving their rehabilitation centre.

    “So far she’s showing good signs of adapting,” Nico Hermanu, a BOSF spokesman, told AFP.

“She’s been climbing trees as high as 35 metres (about 115 feet) and has been eating fruit from the forest.”

Kika and Alba — who is six years old and now 28 kilos — will be monitored by conservation teams at Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park.

The rescue is a rare spot of bright news for the critically endangered species, which has seen its habitat shrink drastically over the past few decades largely due to the destruction of forests for logging, paper, palm oil and mining.

The population of orangutans in Borneo has plummeted from about 288,500 in 1973 to about 100,000 today, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

A string of fatal attacks on the great apes this year have been blamed on farmers and hunters.

Four Indonesian men were arrested over the killing of an orangutan shot some 130 times with an air rifle in February.

Borneo police have also arrested two rubber plantation workers and accused them of shooting an orangutan multiple times before decapitating it.

Plantation workers and villagers are sometimes known to attack the animal because they see it as a pest, while poachers also capture them to sell as pets.

    Trump steadfastly defended his sudden push for retrenchment, vowing that the United States would no longer be the “policeman of the Middle East” and saying the 2,000-strong US force in Syria was no longer needed as the Islamic State group had been defeated.

Mattis, a battle-hardened retired four-star general seen as a moderating force on the often impulsive president, made little attempt to hide his disagreements with Trump.

“Because you have the right to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours,” Mattis said in a letter to Trump, “I believe it is right for me to step down from my position.”

    Mattis hailed the coalition to defeat Islamic State as well as NATO, the nearly 70-year-old alliance between North America and Europe whose cost-effectiveness has been questioned by the businessman turned president.

“My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues,” Mattis wrote.

One day after the surprise announcement on Syria, a US official told AFP that Trump had also decided on a “significant withdrawal” in a much larger US operation — Afghanistan.

Some 14,000 troops are fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan as part of the longest-ever US war, launched in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Wall Street Journal reported that more than half would be returning.

Trump has surrounded himself with former military men and shown an uncharacteristic public deference toward Mattis, a bookish 68-year-old who has disagreed with the president behind the scenes on issues from Russia to Iran to accepting transgender soldiers.

He hinted at Mattis’s departure as far back as October, telling CBS: “It could be that he is (leaving). I think he’s sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth… He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves.”

On Twitter Thursday, however, Trump had only praise for his defense secretary, who will serve until the end of February, crediting him with achieving “tremendous progress.”

– ‘National security crisis’ –

US lawmakers across the political spectrum voiced concern over a rebirth of the Islamic State group in Syria and sounded an alarm as Mattis unmoors from the unpredictable administration.

Senator Marco Rubio, a member of Trump’s Republican Party, said Mattis in his letter “makes it abundantly clear that we are headed towards a series of grave policy errors which will endanger our nation, damage our alliances and empower our adversaries.”

Democratic Senator Mark Warner called Mattis “an island of stability amidst the chaos of the Trump administration” and voiced fears of policy driven by “the president’s erratic whims.”

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was unusually pointed, calling for the US to “maintain a clear-eyed understanding of our friends and foes, and recognize that nations like Russia are among the latter.”

He said he was “particularly distressed that he is resigning due to sharp differences with the president on these and other key aspects of America’s global leadership.”

Trump was quick to note that he has ramped up military spending, but he has been most interested in deploying troops at home to carry out his key domestic goal of cracking down on unauthorized immigration.

“Does the USA want to be the Policeman of the Middle East, getting NOTHING but spending precious lives and trillions of dollars protecting others who, in almost all cases, do not appreciate what we are doing? Do we want to be there forever? Time for others to finally fight,” he tweeted.

– Putin praises Trump –

The US withdrawal will make Russia, which has deployed its air power in support of President Bashar al-Assad, the pre-eminent global power in the Syrian conflict.

“The fact that the US has decided to withdraw its troops is right,” President Vladimir Putin said during an annual year-end press conference, saying that “on the whole I agree with the US president” on the level of damage inflicted on Islamic State.

Putin, who has described the fall of the Soviet Union as a historic geopolitical disaster, sees Moscow’s longtime ally Syria as a key asset in preserving influence in the Middle East.

Iran’s Shiite clerical regime has also strongly backed Assad, a secular leader from the heterodox Alawite sect.

Turkey opposes Assad and may be emboldened by Trump to attack Kurdish fighters inside Syria, who fought alongside US troops against the Islamic State group.

Turkey links Kurds who dominate the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to a decades-old insurgency at home, but had been reluctant to strike for fear of setting off a crisis if the United States suffered casualties.

Mustefa Bali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, said the fighters would keep up the battle against Islamic State — but that all bets were off if Turkey attacks.

– Worries in Europe –

Bali said the Kurdish forces would keep locked up the Islamic State extremists in their custody — but alleged that Turkey may target prisons to sow chaos once US troops leave.

The Islamic State movement has claimed credit for a slew of attacks around the world, including the 2015 coordinated assault on Paris, and experts estimate that thousands of sympathizers remain.

Meanwhile Germany, which has taken in more than one million refugees stemming in large part from the Syria conflict, questioned Trump’s assessment that the threat was over.

While fighting has largely subsided in Syria and the Islamic State group holds little territory, a political solution remains elusive in ending the war that has killed more than 360,000 and displaced millions since 2011.

    Police said it was a “tactical option” after more than 50 sightings of the device near the airfield since Wednesday night when the runway was first closed.

Police and airport authorities believe the drone is being flown in a deliberate act to disrupt the airport at one of the busiest times of year, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded just days before Christmas.

On Thursday Britain called in the army to offer additional support to police as they hunt for those responsible.

    “We will do what we can to take that drone out of the sky and remove that disruption so we can get Gatwick back to normal,” Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley said, despite earlier concerns that shooting the drone would be dangerous due to the danger of stray bullets.

“One of the options is to use firearms officers if that presents itself — they have been out on the ground today and that’s a consideration and a tactical option that’s open to us.”

He said he believed the drone had been modified with the “intent of causing disruption” and were looking through CCTV to identify the make and model.

The airport said late Thursday its only runway could not be reopened following further appearances of the drone.

“Gatwick’s runway remains unavailable because of continued drone sightings,” it said.

Specialist equipment has been deployed by the MOD (Ministry of Defence) to Gatwick airport to assist Sussex Police.

“We are there to assist and do everything we can,” Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson told Sky News television, declining to give the troops’ exact role and adding that it followed a request from local police.

– ‘It’s childish’ –

Gisele Fenech, 43, who was travelling to Malta, was among those stranded at the airport.

“We’re meeting family and it’s my daughter’s birthday today so it’s gone all wrong. We’ve been looking forward to this for so long,” she told AFP.

“Everyone’s trying to get home for Christmas.”

Gatwick, around 30 miles (50 kilometres) south of the British capital, is the eighth-busiest airport in Europe and sits behind Mumbai as the world’s busiest single runway air hub.

Inbound flights were diverted to other airports, including Paris, while passengers waiting to take off faced gruelling delays as airlines cut services.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said overnight restrictions would be lifted at some airports to help ease the situation.

Some 10,000 passengers were affected on Wednesday night, and a further 110,000 who had been due to either take off or land at the airport on 760 flights Thursday.

Musab Rashid, 22, who was going to Copenhagen, said: “It’s wrong, it’s childish of them to do this, because it’s affected more than 100,000 people.”

 – Cat-and-mouse manhunt –

Two drones were first spotted flying over Gatwick at around 9pm (2100 GMT) on Wednesday. The airfield briefly reopened at 3am on Thursday, but had to be closed again following further sightings through the day.

Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said the incident was “a highly targeted activity which has been designed to close the airport and bring maximum disruption in the run up to Christmas”.

“We are working very closely with the police and the security services to try to resolve this for passengers,” he said, adding “as soon as we can we will” reopen the runway.

A cat-and-mouse manhunt is under way to catch those operating the drones, with more than 20 police units and dozens of officers from two local forces deployed.

“Each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone disappears; when we look to reopen the airfield, the drone reappears,” said police superintendent Justin Burtenshaw on Thursday, adding there were no indication the incident was terror-related.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said she sympathised with passengers and vowed action.

“We will continue to work with the Gatwick authorities and police will be working… in order to bring this to a close,” she told a press conference in London.

Under a new British law, drones cannot be flown near aircraft or within a kilometre of an airport, or at an altitude of over 400 feet (122 metres).

May warned the perpetrators they could face up to five years in prison for endangering an aircraft under recently passed legislation.

“We’re consulting on further aspects of this including further police powers,” she added.

Gatwick serves more than 228 destinations in 74 countries for 45 million passengers a year.

The airport, which closed its only runway Wednesday night after “reports of two drones flying in and around the airfield”, said late Thursday it could not be reopened following further appearances of the devices.

“Gatwick’s runway remains unavailable because of continued drone sightings,” it said in a 11:00pm (2300 GMT) update.

Police and airport authorities believe they were being flown in a deliberate act to disrupt the airport.

The unusually large drones had been spotted near the airfield more than 50 times over the 24-hour period, police said Thursday night.

“We think it may have been adapted and developed,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley of the devices, adding officers were reviewing CCTV footage to identify the make and model.

He said firearms officers were now considering shooting the device down — despite authorities earlier saying that would be dangerous due to the danger of stray bullets.

The runway closure stranded tens of thousands of travellers days before Christmas — and prompted the unusual military operation.

Specialist equipment has been deployed by the MOD (Ministry of Defence) to Gatwick airport to assist Sussex Police.

“We are there to assist and do everything we can,” Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson told Sky News television, declining to give the troops’ exact role and adding that it followed a request from local police.

Gisele Fenech, 43, who was travelling to Malta, was among those stranded at the airport.

“We’re meeting family and it’s my daughter’s birthday today so it’s gone all wrong. We’ve been looking forward to this for so long,” she told AFP.

“Everyone’s trying to get home for Christmas.”

– ‘It’s childish’ –

Gatwick, around 30 miles (50 kilometres) south of the British capital, is the eighth-busiest airport in Europe and sits behind Mumbai as the world’s busiest single runway air hub.

Inbound flights were diverted to other airports, including Paris, while passengers waiting to take off faced gruelling delays as airlines cut services.

Easyjet, Gatwick’s biggest operator, said it had cancelled all its flights in and out of the hub Thursday.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said overnight restrictions would be lifted at some airports to help ease the situation.

Some 10,000 passengers were affected on Wednesday night, and a further 110,000 who had been due to either take off or land at the airport on 760 flights Thursday.

Gatwick said it anticipated disruption to continue into Friday.

Musab Rashid, 22, who was going to Copenhagen, said: “It’s wrong, it’s childish of them to do this, because it’s affected more than 100,000 people.”

‘Highly targeted activity’

Two drones were first spotted flying over Gatwick at around 9:00 pm (2100 GMT) on Wednesday. The airfield briefly reopened at 3:00 am on Thursday, but had to be closed again following further sightings through the day.

Gatwick CEO Stewart Wingate said the incident was “a highly targeted activity which has been designed to close the airport and bring maximum disruption in the run up to Christmas”.

“We are working very closely with the police and the security services to try to resolve this for passengers,” he said, adding “as soon as we can we will” reopen the runway.

A cat-and-mouse manhunt is under way to catch those operating the drones, with more than 20 police units and dozens of officers from two local forces deployed.

Police superintendent Justin Burtenshaw said: “We believe this to be a deliberate act to disrupt the airport. However, there are absolutely no indications to suggest this is terror-related.”

He added: “Each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone disappears; when we look to reopen the airfield, the drone reappears.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May said she sympathised with passengers and vowed action.

“We will continue to work with the Gatwick authorities and police will be working… in order to bring this to a close,” she said at a press conference in London.

Under a new British law, drones cannot be flown near aircraft or within a kilometre of an airport, or at an altitude of over 400 feet (122 metres).

May warned the perpetrators they could face up to five years in prison for endangering an aircraft under recently passed legislation.

“We’re consulting on further aspects of this including further police powers,” she added.

Gatwick serves more than 228 destinations in 74 countries for 45 million passengers a year.