MENG DEAL IN WORKS?

U.S. might OK release

The U.S. Justice Department is discussing a deal that would allow Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, to return home to China from Canada in exchange for admitting wrongdoing in a criminal case, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Justice officials and lawyers for Meng have discussed the prospect of a deferred prosecution agreement to deal with the wire and bank fraud charges she faces, the Journal reported Thursday. She was arrested two years ago in Vancouver and has been confined to the city since then.

Under such an agreement, Meng would have to admit to some of the charges, but prosecutors would agree to potentially defer and later drop them if she co-operated, the people said.

The agreement could pave the way for the return of two Canadians who were detained in China after Meng's arrest, the newspaper said. The prospect of securing the freedom of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor is in part motivating the discussions, the Journal's sources said.

China detained Kovrig and Spavor nine days after Meng was arrested in December 2018 while changing planes in Vancouver, where she owns a home. The Justin Trudeau government has called their detention arbitrary and called for their immediate release.

China says they are suspected of national security crimes.

“This would be a great way to end this nightmare,” Guy SaintJacques, Canada's former ambassador to China, told CBC Thursday, hours after the Journal story broke.

“I think everyone in Ottawa was waiting for a miracle that would come from Washington. So let's hope that the discussions are serious and that a solution can be found because otherwise I think we would be in a mess for a long time.”

Canada's Justice Minister, David Lametti, refused to comment when CBC asked him about the report.

According to the Journal, Meng has so far resisted the proposal because she believes she has done nothing wrong.

She declined to comment through a Huawei spokesman; a U.S. Justice Department spokesman also declined to comment.

Negotiators for Meng and the Justice Department will speak again this week in hopes of reaching a deal before Donald Trump leaves office, the Journal reported. Huawei officials are also holding out hope that Joe Biden's administration will be more lenient, the report said.

The Trump administration's moves against Huawei — particularly the arrest of Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei — have added to the rising tensions between the U.S., Canada and China. In addition to the legal case, the U.S. government has pressed allies to bar their telecom carriers from using the company's networking equipment because of alleged security risks.

Meng, 48, is currently fighting extradition to the United States. She and Huawei deny the fraud allegations related to U.S. sanctions against Iran. She has been living in her Vancouver under house arrest for two years.

Last month, Canada's foreign affairs minister warned politicians' tough talk about China could hurt efforts to gain the release of Kovrig and Spavor.

Testifying before the House of Commons Canada-China relations committee, François-Philippe Champagne urged MPs to keep the fate of the two men in mind when they spout off about the perfidy of China's Communist regime.

“I know, Mr. Chair, that some like to talk tough on China,” Champagne told the committee.

“To those who are seduced by this one-dimensional view, I say this: while it is easy to be tough, let's continue to be smart. Let's not fall into the temptation of tough and irresponsible rhetoric that will generate no tangible result for Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, our farmers and entrepreneurs, and human rights victims and advocates.”

Champagne's plea came a week after the House of Commons passed a Conservative motion calling on the government to decide by Dec. 18 whether to allow Huawei to be involved in development of Canada's next generation 5G wireless network.

The motion passed with the support of all opposition parties over the objections of the government.