Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou loses court fight against extradition to United States
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The Global Times, published by the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, said the ruling “will make Canada a pathetic clown and a scapegoat in the fight between China and the US.” It also said the ruling meant the Canadian judiciary had completely surrendered to the US.
In another shock for China, Huawei Technologies Co’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was dealt a setback by a Canadian court on Wednesday as she tries to avoid extradition to the United States to face bank fraud charges.
Meng, a Chinese citizen and daughter of Huawei’s billionaire founder Ren Zheng, was arrested in December 2018 on a warrant issued by US authorities. They accused her of bank fraud for misleading HSBC about Huawei’s relationship with a company operating in Iran, putting HSBC at risk of fines and penalties for breaking US sanctions on Tehran.
The ruling dashed her hopes for an end to her 18-month house arrest in Vancouver. It paved the way for the extradition hearing to proceed to the second phase starting June, examining whether Canadian officials followed the law while arresting Meng. Closing arguments are expected in the last week of September and first week of October.
To this end, China’s embassy in Canada said Ottawa was “accomplice to United States efforts to bring down Huawei and Chinese high-tech companies.”
And Meng’s lawyers argued the case should be thrown out because Canada did not have sanctions against Iran.
But Huawei said it was disappointed by the Canadian court ruling and it expects that Canada’s judicial system will ultimately prove her innocence.
The Global Times, published by the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, said the ruling “will make Canada a pathetic clown and a scapegoat in the fight between China and the US.” It also said the ruling meant the Canadian judiciary had completely surrendered to the US.
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa said in a statement that China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the decision on Meng and has made serious representations with Canada.
The US Department of Justice, on the other hand, thanked Canada for its continued assistance. US President Donald Trump can now expect more wins against in China.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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