China summons U.S. envoy to protest detention of executive

CFO suspected of trade violations

BEIJING — China summoned the U.S. ambassador to Beijing on Sunday to protest Canada’s detention of a senior executive of Chinese electronics giant Huawei at Washington’s behest and demand the U.S. cancel an order for her arrest.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng “lodged solemn representations and strong protests” with Ambassador Terry Branstad against the detention of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. Meng, reportedly suspected of trying to evade U.S. trade curbs on Iran, was detained Dec. 1 while changing planes in Vancouver, Canada.

The Xinhua report quoted Le as demanding the U.S. vacate an order for her arrest, saying it would take further steps based on Washington’s response.

The move followed the summoning of Canadian Ambassador John McCallum on Saturday over Meng’s detention and a similar warning.

The Canadian province of British Columbia canceled a trade mission to China amid fears China could detain Canadians in retaliation.

Huawei is the biggest global supplier of network gear for phone and internet companies and has been the target of deepening U.S. security concerns over its ties to the Chinese government. The U.S. has pressured European countries and other allies to limit use of its technology, warning they could be opening themselves up to surveillance and theft of information.

Meng’s arrest has threatened to increase U.S.-China trade tensions and shook stock markets globally last week.

But U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” downplayed the impact of the arrest.

“This is a criminal justice matter,” he said. “It is totally separate from anything that I work on or anything that the trade policy people in the administration work on.”