Canadian court grants bail to Huawei CFO; Trump vows to intervene
VANCOUVER/BEIJING/ WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Canadian court on Tuesday granted bail to a top executive of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd while she awaits a hearing for extradition to the United States, a move that could help placate Chinese officials angered by her arrest.
US President Donald Trump also said on Tuesday he would intervene with the US Justice Department in the case against Meng Wanzhou, 46, Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder, if it would help secure a trade deal with Beijing.
“If I think it’s good for the country, if I think it’s good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made – which is a very important thing – what’s good for national security – I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary,” Trump said in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters in the Oval Office.
Trump expressed optimism that he could strike a trade deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the two countries struggle to resolve a dispute that has contributed to recent U.S. stock market declines and raised questions about whether economic turmoil could beset the president in the new year.
At the request of US authorities, Huawei Technologies Co. executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested earlier this month in Vancouver on charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran.
Last month, the CIA assessed that MbS ordered the killing.
Trump has intervened on behalf of a Chinese company before. Earlier this year he revisited penalties for Chinese company ZTE Corp for lying to the U.S. after the company pleaded guilty to violating U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran, saying the telecom maker is a big buyer for U.S. suppliers.
Trump said Meng could potentially be released.
Asked if he would like to see Meng extradited to the United States, Trump said he wanted to first see what the Chinese request. He added, however, that Huawei’s alleged practices are troubling.
“This has been a big problem that we’ve had in so many different ways with so many companies from China and from other places,” he said.
Justice William Ehrcke at a court hearing in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Tuesday granted bail to Meng, subject to a guarantee of C$10 million ($7.5 million) and other conditions.
China had threatened severe consequences unless Canada released Meng immediately.
A Canadian citizen has been detained in China, Canada said on Tuesday. The Canadian government said it saw no explicit link to the Huawei case, but analysts had predicted retaliation from Beijing.
Two sources told Reuters the person detained was former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, who now works for a think tank.
Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada’s former ambassador to China, asked by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp whether the Kovrig detention was a coincidence, said: “In China there are no coincidences ... If they want to send you a message they will send you a message.”
Meng was detained as part of a US investigation on Dec. 1 as she was changing planes in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, the United States is considering issuing a new warning to US citizens, including business executives, traveling to China after Canada arrested a senior Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL] executive at Washington’s request.
Such an advisory from the State Department would warn US nationals of the risk that China could retaliate against them for the detention of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, according to one of the sources familiar with the situation.
Meng, 46, arrested on Dec. 1 in Vancouver, returned to a Canadian court on Tuesday for a bail hearing and is fighting a US extradition request. China has protested her arrest to US and Canadian officials.
Meng faces US accusations that she misled multinational banks about Huawei’s control of a company operating in Iran. This put the banks at risk of violating US sanctions and incurring penalties, court documents said.