A Chinese newspaper called Canada’s detention of a senior executive of Chinese electronics giant Huawei Technologies Co (華為) at Washington’s behest “inhumane,” after a day earlier summoning the US ambassador to Beijing to protest Ottawa’s decision and demand that the US cancel an order for her arrest.
Xinhua news agency said that Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Yucheng (樂玉成) “lodged solemn representations and strong protests” with US Ambassador Terry Branstad against the detention of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟).
Meng, who is reportedly suspected of trying to evade US trade curbs on Iran, was detained on Dec. 1 while changing planes in Vancouver.
Photo: AP
The Xinhua report quoted Le as calling Meng’s detention “extremely egregious” and demanded that the US cancel an order for her arrest.
It quoted Le as calling for the US to “immediately correct its wrong actions” and said it would take further steps based on Washington’s response.
Meanwhile, an editorial published yesterday by the Global Times said that “it is hard to escape the conclusion that her [Meng’s] treatment is something of a show trial intended to humiliate her and the Chinese people.”
The Global Times and the China Daily said that Meng had been handcuffed and wore ankle restraints.
The US is seeking her extradition.
It alleges that Huawei used a Hong Kong shell company to evade US trade curbs on Iran.
“This is a criminal justice matter,” US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday. “It is totally separate from anything that I work on or anything that the trade policy people in the administration work on.”
“We have a lot of very big, very important issues. We’ve got serious people working on them and I don’t think they’ll be affected by this,” Lighthizer said.
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