China steps up protest at arrest of top executive
Canada attacked over ‘vile’ detention
CHINA HAS summoned the Canadian ambassador to protest at the detention of a top executive of leading Chinese tech giant Huawei, calling it “unreasonable, unconscionable, and vile in nature” and warning of “grave consequences” if she is not released.
A report by the official Xinhua News Agency said that vice foreign minister Le Yucheng called in Ambassador John McCallum on Saturday over the holding of chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is reportedly suspected of trying to evade US trade curbs on Iran.
Mr Le told Mr McCallum that Meng’s detention at the request of the United States while transferring flights in Vancouver was a “severe violation” of her “legitimate rights and interests”.
“Such a move ignores the law and is unreasonable, unconscionable, and vile in nature,” Mr Le said in the statement.
“China strongly urges the Canadian side to immediately release the detained Huawei executive... or face grave consequences that the Canadian side should MENG WAS detained in Vancouver more than a week ago, on the day Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Argentina and announced their deal.
Asian stock markets tumbled when the news broke, fearing renewed US-Chinese tensions that threaten global economic growth.
Market indexes in Tokyo and Hong Kong fell by 1.9pc and 2.8pc and Shanghai was down 1.7pc.
be held accountable for,” Mr Le said.
A Canadian prosecutor urged a Vancouver court to deny bail to Meng, whose case is disturbing US-China relations and worrying global financial markets.
Meng, also the daughter of Huawei’s founder, was detained at the request of the US during a layover at the Vancouver airport on December 1 – the same day that Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping of China agreed over dinner to a 90-day ceasefire in a trade dispute that threatens to disrupt global commerce.
The US alleges that Huawei used a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment in Iran in violation of US sanctions. It also says that Meng and Huawei misled American banks about its business dealings in Iran.
The arrest raises doubts about whether the trade truce will hold and whether the world’s two biggest economies can resolve the issues divide them.
Canadian prosecutor John Gibb-Carsley said in a court hearing on Friday that a warrant had been issued for Meng’s arrest in New York on August 22. He said Meng, arrested en route to Mexico from Hong Kong, was aware of the investigation and had been avoiding the United States for months, even though her teenage son goes to school in Boston.
Gibb-Carsley alleged that Huawei had done business in Iran through a Hong Kong company called Skycom. Meng, he said, had misled US banks into thinking that Huawei and Skycom were separate when, in fact, “Skycom was Huawei”. Meng has contended that Huawei sold Skycom in 2009.