China demands release of Huawei executive
CHINA ON Thursday demanded that Canada release an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei who was arrested in a case that compounds tensions with the United States and threatens to complicate trade talks.
Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Limited, faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law-enforcement sources, said she is suspected of trying to evade US trade curbs on Iran.
Huawei, the biggest global supplier of network gear used by phone and Internet companies, has been the target of deepening US security concerns. Under Donald Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama, Washington has pressured European countries and other allies to limit use of its technology.
The US sees Huawei and smaller Chinese tech suppliers as possible fronts for spying and as commercial competitors. The Trump administration says they benefit from improper subsidies and market barriers.
The timing of the arrest is awkward, following the announcement of a US-Chinese ceasefire in a trade war that has its roots in Beijing’s technology policy. Meng was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, the day Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping met in Argentina and announced their deal.
Stock markets tumbled on the news, fearing renewed USChinese tensions that threaten global economic growth. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2.5 per cent and the DAX in Germany sank 1.8 per cent.
A Chinese government statement said Meng broke no US or Canadian laws and demanded Canada “immediately correct the mistake” and release her.
Beijing asked Washington and Ottawa to explain the reason for Meng’s arrest, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang. He said arresting her without that violated her human rights.
But the Ministry of Commerce signalled that Beijing wants to avoid disrupting progress towards settling a dispute with Washington over technology policy that has led them to raise tariffs on billions of dollars of each other ’s goods.
China is confident they can reach a trade deal during the 90 days that Trump agreed to suspend US tariff hikes, said a ministry spokesman, Gao Feng.
Trump’s tariff hikes on Chinese imports stemmed from complaints that Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. US officials also worry more broadly that Chinese plans for state-led creation of Chinese champions in robotics, artificial intelligence and other fields might erode US industrial leadership.
“The United States is stepping up containment of China in all respect,” said Zhu Feng, an international relations expert at Nanjing University. He said targeting Huawei, one of its most successful companies, “will trigger antiUS sentiment.
“The incident could turn out to be a breaking point,” Zhu said.
Last month, New Zealand blocked a mobile phone company from using Huawei equipment, saying it posed a “significant network security risk”. The company was banned in August from working on Australia’s fifthgeneration network.
On Wednesday, British phone carrier BT said it was removing Huawei equipment from the core of its mobile