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.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
RSS