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Officials said that Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou had reached an agreement with US prosecutors to end the bank fraud case against her. This move allowed her to leave Canada and eased the tension between China and the United States.
A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that Meng flew back to China on Friday night.
According to Agence France-Presse, Canadian broadcast footage also showed that Meng Wanzhou boarded a flight to Shenzhen shortly after his release at the Vancouver court hearing.
The years-long extradition incident has been the main source of the increasingly unstable relationship between Beijing and Washington. Chinese officials have expressed the need to withdraw the case to help end the diplomatic deadlock between the world’s two powers.
The deal also exposes US President Joe Biden to Washington’s criticism of the Chinese hawks, who believe that his government is surrendering to China and one of the top companies that are at the center of the global technological competition between the two countries.
Meng was arrested at Vancouver International Airport in December 2018 under a U.S. arrest warrant and charged with bank and wire fraud charges for allegedly misleading HSBC in 2013 regarding the business transactions of the telecommunications equipment giant in Iran.
Soon after Meng’s arrest, China arrested two Canadians, a businessman and a former diplomat. Her arrest triggered a diplomatic storm and involved Canada in the dispute.
Beijing publicly denied that the arrests were connected.
In an exclusive report on Friday, Reuters reported that the United States has reached an agreement with Meng to extend the prosecution.
Brooklyn’s acting U.S. Attorney, Nicole Boeckmann, stated that at the time the agreement was signed, “Meng was already responsible for her main role in implementing a plan to defraud global financial institutions.”
The agreement is only related to Meng. The US Department of Justice stated that it is preparing to try Huawei and is looking forward to proving its case in court.
A Huawei spokesperson declined to comment.
Relieved
At a hearing in Federal Court in Brooklyn on Friday, Meng actually attended from Canada. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Kessler said that if she complies with all obligations under the agreement, the government will drop the charges against her. The agreement will end in December. 2022.
Meng Wanwan was confined to her expensive Vancouver home and monitored 24/7 by the private security she paid for as part of her bail agreement related to the case [File: Lindsey Wasson/Reuters]He added that Meng will be released through personal guarantee and the United States plans to withdraw its extradition request against Canada.
Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, pleaded not guilty to the charges at the hearing.
When U.S. District Court Judge Ann Donnelly later accepted the deferred prosecution agreement, Meng Wanzhou let out a sigh.
A Canadian judge later signed Meng’s release order, ending her bail conditions and allowing her to be released under house arrest for nearly three years.
After the judge gave the order, she was emotional, hugged and thanked her lawyer.
Speaking to supporters and reporters on the steps of the court after the event, Meng thanked the judge for his “justice” and talked about how the case had “turned her life upside down”.
In addition to resolving the dispute between the United States and China, the agreement could also pave the way for the release of two Canadians detained in China, businessman Michael Spavor, and former diplomat Michael Cummingkai.
In August, a Chinese court sentenced Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage.
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