US President may intervene

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump says he would consider intervening in the case against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou if it would be in the interest of US national security and help forge a trade deal with China.

Trump told Reuters at the White House yesterday that if he thought it would be good for what would ‘‘certainly be the largest trade deal ever made’’, he would intervene if necessary.

A Canadian court yesterday granted bail to Meng, who was arrested at the United States’ request in a case that has set off a diplomatic furore among the three countries and complicated highstakes USChina trade talks.

Washington accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment to Iran in violation of US sanctions. It says Meng and Huawei misled banks about the company’s business dealings in Iran.

Hours before the bail hearing in Vancouver, China detained a former Canadian diplomat in Beijing in apparent retaliation for the December 1 arrest of Meng, chief financial officer of telecommunications giant Huawei and daughter of the company’s founder.

After three days of hearings, a British Columbia justice granted bail of $C10 million ($NZ10.9 million) to Meng, but required her to wear an ankle bracelet, surrender her passports, stay in Vancouver and confine herself to one of her two Vancouver homes from 11pm to 6am.

Amid rising tension between China and Canada, Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale confirmed the detention of the former diplomat, which came after China warned Canada of consequences for Meng’s arrest.

Michael Kovrig, who previously worked as a diplomat in China, was taken into custody by the Beijing Bureau of Chinese State Security on Tuesday during a visit to Beijing, the International Crisis Group, for which Kovrig works as Northeast Asia adviser, said. — BPA