The chief financial officer (CFO) and deputy chairwoman of the Chinese-based tech giant Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, has faced extradition from Canada to the United States after appearing in a Canadian court. This case involves allegations that charge Meng with 13 counts related bank and wire fraud. The company is still standing by Meng in this case, and have stated their support for her as well as their willingness to fight the extradition.
The start of these charges is linked to an alleged long-running scheme that involved Meng and other Huawei officials deceiving banks on a global scale, as well as the U.S. government, in order to go against American sanctions and do business with Iran.
While there are many other reports about the past details of Meng’s case, the main topic at this time is the continued effort by Huawei to support Meng as they fight against these charges.
“From the beginning, Huawei has expressed extreme 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,”, stated the vice president of media affairs for Huawei Canada, Benjamin Howes.
The company has claimed that this case is political and that they are basing these claims on comments made by U.S. President Trump involving trade with China.
“The reason for the China pullback & attempted renegotiation of the Trade Deal is the sincere HOPE that they will be able to ‘negotiate’ with Joe Biden or one of the very weak Democrats, and thereby continue to rip off the United States (($500 Billion a year)) for years to come…”, Trump tweeted in reference to a theory that China is stalling negotiations till after elections.
Trump has been threatening to place additional tariffs on more than $200 billion in goods from China.
“If I think it’s good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made – which is a very important thing – what’s good for national security – I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary,”, President Trump stated.
The tension around Meng’s case has clearly drifted into trade and Chinese U.S. relations in general.
“An escalation in trade frictions is not in line with the American or Chinese interests or the interests of the world, and would thus be much to China’s regret. But if the U.S. goes ahead with its tariff measures against China, China will have to resort to necessary countermeasures,”, part of the Chinese-language statement said.
This fight also has escalated into China’s retaliation through the detainment of two Canadians accused of spying. They were not given access to their families or lawyers.
Those who are interested in gaining more information about cases like this, or who want to keep up-to-date on the latest legal proceedings, check out the Jeff Newman Law Whistleblower Help Center and blog!
