The first stage of an extradition hearing for a senior executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei started on Monday in a Vancouver courtroom, a case that has infuriated Beijing, caused a diplomatic uproar between China and Canada, and complicated high-stakes trade talks between Beijing and Washington.
Canada’s arrest of chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟), the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei (任正非), in late 2018 at the US’ request, enraged Beijing to the point it detained two Canadians in apparent retaliation.
Huawei represents China’s progress in becoming a technological power and has been a subject of US security concerns for years. Beijing views Meng’s case as an attempt to contain China’s rise.
Photo: AFP
“Our government has been clear. We are a rule of law country and we honor our extradition treaty commitments,” Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said at a Cabinet retreat in Manitoba. “It is what we need to do and what we will do.”
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday accused the US and Canada of violating Meng’s rights and called for her release.
“It is completely a serious political incident,” ministry spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) said, urging Canada to “correct mistakes with concrete actions, release Ms Meng Wanzhou and let her return safely as soon as possible.”
Washington accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment to Iran in a breach of US sanctions. It says Meng, 47, committed fraud by misleading HSBC about the company’s business dealings in Tehran.
Meng, who is free on bail and living in one of the two Vancouver mansions she owns, sat next to her lawyers. She earlier waved at reporters as she arrived at court.
Meng denies the US allegations. Her defense team says comments by US President Donald Trump suggest the case against her is politically motivated.
“We trust in Canada’s judicial system, which will prove Ms Meng’s innocence,” Huawei said in a statement as the proceedings began.
Meng was detained in December 2018 in Vancouver as she was changing flights — on the same day that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met for trade talks.
Huawei is the biggest global supplier of network gear for cellphone and Internet companies.
Washington is pressuring other countries to limit use of its technology, warning they could be opening themselves up to surveillance and theft.
The initial stage of Meng’s extradition hearing this week is focusing on whether Meng’s alleged crimes are crimes both in the US and Canada. Her lawyers on Friday filed a motion arguing that Meng’s case is really about US sanctions against Iran, not a fraud case. Canada does not have similar sanctions on Iran.
Richard Peck, Meng’s lawyer, said in court that the fraud allegations are a “facade” and the charges are really about the US attempting to enforce its sanctions on Iran.
“Would we be here in the absence of US sanctions law? My response is no,” Peck said.
The second phase, scheduled for June, would consider defense allegations that Canada Border Services, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the FBI violated Meng’s rights while collecting evidence before she was actually arrested.
The extradition case could take years to resolve if there are appeals. From 2008 to 2018, nearly 90 percent of those arrested in Canada on extradition requests from the US were surrendered to US authorities.
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