Displaying items by tag: Extradition

Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of the Chinese telecom giant and daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei, was detained in the Canadian city on a US warrant in late 2018. Her arrest put the 47-year-old at the center of the US and China's battle over Huawei's growing global reach. Hearings into whether she can be extradited to the United States will begin on January 20 in Vancouver, in a case with potential repercussions for ties between the US, China and Canada.

The fifth court hearing for Meng Wanzhou's case took place in Canada on May 8. Huawei issued a statement regarding this hearing in which it reveals three new and important disclosures that the lawyers for Ms. Meng made in court. From the outset, Huawei has expressed confidence in Ms. Meng’s innocence. “We have maintained that her U.S.-ordered arrest was an unlawful abuse of process – one guided by political considerations and tactics, not by the rule of law.”

Canada’s decision to begin extradition proceedings against Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou has sparked an angry backlash in Beijing.

The prominent Huawei executive who is also the daughter of the company’s founder Ren Zhengfei was arrested and detained in Vancouver in December for allegedly violating US trade sanctions with Iran.

Diplomatic tensions between Canada and China has deteriorated following the arrest of Wanzhou - and a number of Canadian diplomats were subsequently arrested in Beijing in what was seen as a retaliatory tactic in response to her arrest.

However, tensions have now escalated following the announcement by Canadian officials that it will begin extradition proceedings of Wanzhou to the United States. Beijing said Ottawa’s decision was tantamount to a ‘severe political incident’.

The Canadian government released a statement in which it stressed that after engaging in a thorough review decided to formally commence with the extradition process.

The statement read, “Today, Department of Justice Canada officials issued an Authority to Proceed, formally commencing an extradition process in the case of Ms. Meng Wanzhou. The decision was made after we had conducted a thorough and diligent review which found sufficient evidence to warrant putting the matter before a judge.”

At the conclusion of the process -- which could last months, or even years -- Canada's attorney general will have the final say on whether or not to hand Meng over.

Beijing on Saturday voiced its "strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to Canada, which obstinately moves forward the so-called judicial extradition process."

Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement the US and Canada were "abusing their bilateral extradition treaty to apply arbitrary coercive measures against Chinese citizens, in violation of their rights and legitimate interests".

Kang described the decision by the Canadian government as a severe political incident and said the arrest was part of a politically motivated campaign being led by the US to discredit Chinese technology leaders such as Huawei and ZTE in an effort to gain control in the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and Chinese officials.

The US Department of Justice has confirmed that it will continue to seek the extradition of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou who was arrested in Vancouver in December. The DOJ are claiming that she violated trade sanctions with Iran and want her to appear on trial in the United States.

The arrest of the prominent Huawei CFO who is the daughter of the company’s founder kicked off a diplomatic row between China and Canada, which is still ongoing. China detained a number of Canadian diplomats in the immediate aftermath of the arrest of Wanzhou in Vancouver, which was seen as retaliation.

However, the DOJ are continuing their efforts in terms of extraditing the Huawei CFO back to US for questioning, despite reports to the contrary that claimed they were willing to drop the extradition order.

"We will continue to pursue the extradition of defendant Ms. Meng Wanzhou, and will meet all deadlines set by the US/Canada Extradition Treaty," said Justice Department spokesperson Marc Raimondi.

Wanzhou was freed on bail of Can$10 million (US$7.5 million) bail and is awaiting a hearing on her extradition. According to the agreement between the two countries, the United States has 60 days after an arrest made at its request in Canada to formalize an extradition request. 

Once a request has been submitted, the Canadian justice ministry then has 30 days to proceed with official extradition proceedings, though the process can take months or years.

The CFO at Chinese telecommunications behemoth Huawei has been arrested and detained in Canada, in a move that has been met with vehement criticism amongst authorities in Beijing, who have called for her immediate release.