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The CFO of the Chinese company Huawei was arrested in Canada in December 2018 for violating US sanctions.
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. executive Meng Wanzhou and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached an agreement to resolve the criminal charges against her. This is a breakthrough in a case that has exacerbated tensions between China, Canada and the United States.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York told the American judge who presided over the Meng Wanzhou case that they will appear in court on Friday afternoon to “make a resolution with this court on the charges against the defendant.” According to people familiar with the matter, Meng is getting an agreement to extend the prosecution and is not expected to plead guilty.
Huawei’s chief financial officer was arrested in Vancouver in December 2018 on charges of violating US sanctions. Her detention triggered a diplomatic crisis and Beijing’s retaliatory trade measures, which Beijing described as a politically motivated attack on one of its main technical champions. Meng has been working hard to extradite her to the United States in the past few years. It is not clear when she will be allowed to return to China.
China often associates Meng’s case with the imprisoned Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Cumming Kai. The two Michaels are well known in Canada and were detained in China within a few days of Meng’s arrest. If, after reaching an agreement with Meng, Beijing reaches a reciprocal agreement to release them, it would represent a political victory for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who will face rival Conservatives for handling relations just a few days after the national election. Severe criticism. And Beijing.
Officials at the Chinese embassies in Washington and Ottawa did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Prosecutors accused Huawei and Meng of lying to HSBC Holdings Ltd. regarding Huawei’s relationship with a third company operating in Iran, as part of a violation of US trade sanctions against the country. Meng, 49, was accused of personally making false statements about these relationships in August 2013.
Huawei has pleaded not guilty.
U.S. prosecutors increased their stakes last year by increasing extortion charges against Huawei. The company also pleaded not guilty to these charges.
Since the case was revealed in early 2019, Huawei’s prosecutors and lawyers have been vying for evidence. According to materials submitted by the United States in Canada’s extradition request to Meng, the company has recently lost its battle to obtain more evidence from the government.
John Mazzuli, a spokesman for the acting Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Casulis, declined to comment on the Meng case. Officials from the US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meng’s chief U.S. defense attorney, Reid Weingarten, did not immediately respond to voicemails or emails seeking comment, and Meng’s lawyers in Canada did not respond. A spokesperson for Huawei in Canada did not immediately respond.
Spy conviction
As Meng’s case seemed to end without a problem, the Trudeau government faced increasing pressure. Last month, a Chinese court sentenced Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage. However, although this decision opened the door to Spavor’s eventual deportation, it sparked more international criticism.
Trudeau condemned the verdict as “absolutely unacceptable and unfair,” while David Meyer, the top US diplomat in Beijing, called the lawsuit “an attempt to openly use human beings as a bargaining chip.” In another statement, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Brinken condemned Beijing’s verdict and called for the immediate release of all persons detained “arbitrarily” in China.
The conviction of Spavor and the conviction of the Hong Kong analyst of the International Crisis Organization and former Canadian diplomat Kovrig Mingkai has sparked criticism of the expansion of “hostage diplomacy.” China has repeatedly linked these cases to Meng’s case, and a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said last year that stopping her extradition “can open up room for the settlement of the two Canadians”.
Trudeau’s current Liberal Party won a third term this week, but the prime minister was unable to regain majority control of the legislature. The continued detention of the two Michaels remains a core foreign policy issue for his administration.
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