China demanding release of executive

CHINA has demanded Canada release a Huawei Technologies executive who was arrested in a case that adds to tensions with the United States and threatens to complicate trade talks.

Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, faces possible extradition to the US, according to Canadian authorities.

The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, said she was accused of trying to evade US curbs on trade with Iran.

The timing is awkward, following the announcement of a USChinese ceasefire in a tariff war over Beijing’s technology policy.

Meng was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, the day Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Argentina and announced their deal.

Asian stock markets tumbled on the news, fearing renewed USChinese tensions that threaten global economic growth. Market indexes in Tokyo and Hong Kong fell by 1.9% and 2.8% and Shanghai was off 1.7% at midday.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said Meng broke no US or Canadian laws and demanded Canada “immediately correct the mistake” and release her.

Huawei Technologies Ltd is the biggest global supplier of network gear used by phone and internet companies, but the US sees Huawei and smaller Chinese tech suppliers as possible fronts for Chinese spying. A SUICIDE car bomber attacked police headquarters in the south-eastern Iranian port city of Chabahar yesterday, killing at least two people and wounding 15. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, though a semi-official news agency blamed a Sunni jihadi group.