Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou faces Canadian court after US reveals charges against her and tech-giant
Huawei’s local chairman says the tech giant is the victim of ‘China bashing’ as the comapny’s CFO - who was reportedly once a director of the company in Australia - faced court in Canada.
Huawei Australia’s chairman says the tech-giant has been hit by ‘China bashing’ as the daughter of the parent company’s founder, Meng Wanzhou, faced court in Canada.
The top executive, at the centre of a diplomatic row, appeared in court for a bail review, one day after the US unveiled sweeping charges against her and the Chinese telco.
Ms Meng, who is the company’s chief financial officer, was indicted along with Huawei and two affiliates in a case related to alleged Iran sanctions violations.
Her arrest has inflamed tensions with China.
It’s understood Ms Meng was also a director of Huawei’s Australian company between 2001 and 2005.
She was arrested at Washington’s request on December 1 as she changed planes in Vancouver, and was later released on bail pending a decision on extradition to the US.
The court hearing was to review whether she is abiding by the terms of her bail, and to substitute one of the sureties in her bail order.
According to local media, the courtroom was cleared while Ms Meng updated the surety paperwork and the judge considered the swap request.
Ms Meng has been living under strict bail conditions in Vancouver since December, according to local media.
The judge also moved the start of her extradition hearing to March 6, a month later than previously scheduled, local reporters said on Twitter.
The case has drawn Canada into an escalating diplomatic crisis with Beijing, which has detained two Canadians in what was widely seen as an act of retaliation for Ms Meng’s arrest.
‘CHINA BASHING’
It comes as the Australian chairman of the Chinese telecom said he believed the company has been caught up in “China bashing” driven by the US.
A frustrated John Lord made the statement to The Australian Financial Review.
“There’s a lot of China bashing going on and Huawei is getting swept up in that and it’s frustrating for me and for our global board,” Mr Lord said.
Huawei is China’s first global technology competitor and one of the world’s biggest mobile phone companies and makers of telecommunications parts.
AMBASSADOR SACKED
On the weekend, Canada sacked its ambassador to China over public comments that he believed the US extradition request was flawed.
China reacted furiously to the US criminal charges, saying they were the product of “strong political motivations and political manipulations.” The company also denied any wrongdoing.
Canadian officials have confirmed to AFP that they received a formal extradition request from the US.
The US Justice Department announced 13 charges against Ms Meng, Huawei and two affiliates related to the alleged sanctions violations.
The indictment was unsealed as China’s top trade negotiator arrived in Washington for high-stakes talks with US officials, which could complicate efforts to avert a deepening of their trade war.
In addition, 10 US federal charges were filed against two Huawei affiliates for allegedly stealing robot technology from T-Mobile.
WHAT’S MENG ACCUSED OF?
FBI Director Christopher Wray said both sets of charges “expose Huawei’s brazen and persistent actions to exploit American companies and financial institutions, and to threaten the free and fair global marketplace.”
Acting US Attorney-General Matthew Whitaker said there was nothing in the indictment that alleged Chinese government involvement in either case.
The Chinese foreign ministry accused Washington of using “state power to discredit and crack down on specific Chinese companies in an attempt to strangle the enterprises’ legitimate and legal operations.” It renewed Beijing’s demand for the US to drop its warrant against Ms Meng and for Canada to release her.
The accusations against Ms Meng allege that between 2007 and 2017 she, Huawei and subsidiaries sought to mask their business with Iran in violation of US and UN sanctions on the country.
It’s alleged Ms Meng in particular “repeatedly lied” to bankers about the relationships between the companies, especially with Skycom, a Huawei affiliate in Iran, according to the charges.
That violated US laws, the Justice Department said, because the Iran business involved US-dollar transactions processed by banks through the United States.
Huawei and the affiliates also lied to US authorities, obstructing the investigation, they said.
The second case charged that Huawei made a concerted effort to steal technology related to a phone-testing robot dubbed Tappy from a T-Mobile USA lab in Washington state.
The case over Tappy, T-Mobile’s phone-testing robot, portrays a company going to what the government calls illegal lengths to gain access to others’ intellectual property.
“This indictment shines a bright light on Huawei’s flagrant abuse of the law,” Assistant US lawyer Annette L. Hayes said in a statement.
“If Tappy is as far as they’ve gotten on (intellectual property) theft, that seems to be pretty thin gruel for waging a large campaign against Huawei,” said Adam Segal, a cybersecurity expert at the Council on Foreign Relations who follows China closely.
T-Mobile declined to comment.
Huawei denies any violations of US law, and claims that the Tappy allegations were already a settled matter between it and T-Mobile.
In a civil lawsuit against Huawei over the robot, a federal jury in Seattle awarded T-Mobile $4.8 million in damages in 2017.
Tappy was developed by T-Mobile in 2006 to help spot problems in phones before they hit the market by mimicking how people actually use them.
Its aim was to save the company money by having fewer customers return problematic phones.
T-Mobile, which is based in Bellevue, Washington, considered Tappy superior to competitors’ phone-testing systems, including those using humans. Allegedly, so did Huawei.
Originally published as Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou faces Canadian court after US reveals charges against her and tech-giant
