China calls on Canada to free Huawei CFO or face consequences

[steven36]

BEIJING/OTTAWA (Reuters) - China warned Canada on Saturday that there would be severe consequences if it did not immediately release Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s [HWT.UL] chief financial officer, calling the case “extremely nasty.”

 

 

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s global chief financial officer, was arrested in Canada on Dec. 1 and faces extradition to the United States, which alleges that she covered up her company’s links to a firm that tried to sell equipment to Iran despite sanctions.

 

The executive is the daughter of the founder of Huawei.

 

If extradited to the United States, Meng would face charges of conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions, a Canadian court heard on Friday, with a maximum sentence of 30 years for each charge.

No decision was reached at the extradition hearing after nearly six hours of arguments and counter-arguments, and the hearing was adjourned until Monday.

 

In a short statement, China’s Foreign Ministry said that Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng had issued the warning to release Meng to Canada’s ambassador in Beijing, summoning him to lodge a “strong protest.”

 

There was no immediate reaction from the office of Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on Saturday. When asked about the possible Chinese backlash after the arrest of Huawei’s CFO, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Friday that Canada has a very good relationship with Beijing.

 

Canada’s arrest of Meng at the request of the United States while she was changing plane in Vancouver was a serious breach of her lawful rights, Le said.

 

The move “ignored the law, was unreasonable” and was in its very nature “extremely nasty,” he added.

 

“China strongly urges the Canadian side to immediately release the detained person, and earnestly protect their lawful, legitimate rights, otherwise Canada must accept full responsibility for the serious consequences caused.”

 

The statement did not elaborate.

 

“There will probably be a deep freeze with the Chinese in high-level visits and exchanges,” David Mulroney, former Canadian ambassador to China, said on Friday.

 

“The ability to talk about free trade will be put in the ice box for a while. But we’re going to have to live with that. That’s the price of dealing with a country like China.”

 

Meng’s arrest was on the same day that U.S. President Donald Trump met in Argentina with China’s Xi Jinping to look for ways to resolve an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

 

The news of her arrest has roiled stock markets and drawn condemnation from Chinese authorities, although Trump and his top economic advisers have played down its importance to trade talks after the two leaders agreed to a truce.

 

A Huawei spokesman said on Friday the company has “every confidence that the Canadian and U.S. legal systems will reach the right conclusion.” The company has said it complies with all applicable export control and sanctions laws and other regulations.

 

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[The AchieVer]

China has demanded that Canada release the arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou or face consequences.

Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng separately summoned both the US and Canadian ambassadors and lodged a "strong protest" urging her release.

The ministry described Ms Meng's arrest as "extremely nasty".

Ms Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer and daughter of the firm's founder, is accused of breaking US sanctions on Iran.

She was held in Vancouver last Saturday and faces extradition to the US, where she could be jailed for up to 30 years if found guilty.

China insists that she has not violated any laws.

• What's going on with Huawei?
• A quick guide to the US-China trade war

On Friday Ms Meng appeared before a Canadian court, which adjourned a decision on whether or not to allow bail until Monday.

What has China said?

Ms Meng's arrest while she was changing planes in Vancouver last Saturday was a serious breach of her rights, Reuters quoted the foreign ministry as saying.

It "ignored the law" and was "unreasonable", it said.

"China strongly urges the Canadian side to immediately release the detained person... otherwise Canada must accept full responsibility for the serious consequences caused," the statement added.

On Sunday, Le Yucheng made similar demands to the US, warning: "China will respond further depending on US actions."

What happened during Friday's court appearance?

The Supreme Court of British Columbia was told that Ms Meng had used a Huawei subsidiary called Skycom to evade sanctions on Iran between 2009 and 2014.

 

The court was told that she had publicly misrepresented Skycom as being a separate company.

It heard a Canadian prosecutor say that Ms Meng was accused of "conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions".

The prosecutor said she had denied to US bankers any direct connections between Huawei and SkyCom, when in fact "SkyCom is Huawei".

Ms Meng could be a flight risk and thus should be denied bail, he added. 

Why was the arrest significant? 

The arrest has put further strain on US-China relations. The two countries have been locked in trade disputes, although a 90-day truce had been agreed on Saturday - before news of the arrest came to light on Wednesday. 

Huawei is one of the largest telecommunications equipment and services providers in the world, recently passing Apple to become the second-biggest smartphone maker after Samsung.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Friday that China had been assured that due process was being followed and Ms Meng would have consular access while her case was before the courts.

Ms Freeland reiterated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's claim that Ms Meng's arrest had "no political involvement".

Who is Meng Wanzhou?

By BBC Monitoring 

Meng Wanzhou, 46, joined Huawei as early as 1993, when she began a career at her father's company as a receptionist. 

After she graduated with a master's degree in accountancy from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 1999, she joined the finance department of Huawei.

She became the company's chief finance officer in 2011 and was promoted to vice-chair a few months before her arrest.

Ms Meng's links to her father, Ren Zhengfei, were not known to the public until a few years ago.

In a practice highly unusual in Chinese tradition, she adopted her family name not from her father but her mother, Meng Jun, who was Mr Ren's first wife. 

Does Huawei concern the West?

Some Western governments fear Beijing will gain access to fifth-generation (5G) mobile and other communications networks through Huawei and expand its spying ability, although the firm insists there is no government control.

Japan is expected to ban government use of products made by Huawei and ZTE over cybersecurity concerns, local media reported on Friday. It would follow moves by New Zealand and Australia to block Huawei. 

• Should we worry about Huawei?
• Why has the UK not blocked Huawei?

US National Security Adviser John Bolton said his country has had "enormous concerns for years" about the practice of Chinese firms "to use stolen American intellectual property, to engage in forced technology transfers, and to be used as arms of the Chinese government's objectives in terms of information technology in particular".

"Not respecting this particular arrest, but Huawei is one company we've been concerned about," he said. 

What are the Iran sanctions?

US President Donald Trump last month reinstated all the US sanctions on Iran that had been removed under a 2015 nuclear deal.

• Trump re-imposes Iran sanctions: Now what?
• Iran nuclear deal: Key details

Mr Trump had been fiercely opposed to the deal, which saw Iran limit its controversial nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

The re-imposed sanctions hit oil exports, shipping and banks - all core parts of Iran's economy.

Although there are some waivers, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said the US will "aggressively" target any firm or organisation "evading our sanctions".

 

 

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[Matrix]

Hi brother can you please change font colour to dark grey as not able to read using dark theme without highlighting your article thanks m8

[The AchieVer]

Surely I will in a while.

 

Regards

 

 

Edit : font color changed to dark grey

[Karamjit]

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