Bid to extradite Huawei chief Meng Wanzhou opens in Canada

The first stage of an extradition hearing for Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou started in Vancouver on Tuesday.

Meng Wanzhou leaves British Columbia Supreme Court with her security detail on the first day of her extradition hearing on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

The first stage of an extradition hearing for Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou started in Vancouver on Tuesday, a case that has infuriated Beijing, caused a diplomatic uproar between China and Canada and complicated high-stakes trade talks between China and the US.

Canada’s arrest of Ms Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, in late 2018 at America’s request enraged Beijing to the point it detained two Canadians in retaliation. Huawei represents China’s progress in becoming a technological power and has been a subject of US sec­urity concerns for years. Beijing views Ms Meng’s case as an ­attempt to contain China’s rise.

“Our government has been clear. We are a rule-of-law country and we honour our extradition treaty commitments,” Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said as Ms Meng appeared in the British Columbia Supreme Court. “It is what we need to do and what we will do.”

China’s foreign ministry accused the US and Canada of violating Ms Meng’s rights and called for her release. “It is completely a serious political incident,” said ministry spokesman Geng Shuang. He urged Canada to “correct mistakes with concrete actions, release Ms Meng Wanzhou and let her return safely as soon as possible.”

Washington accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment to Iran in violation of US sanctions.

It says Ms Meng, 47, committed fraud by misleading the HSBC bank about the company’s business dealings in Iran.

Ms Meng, who is on bail and living in one of her two Vancouver mansions, denies the US allegations. Her defence team says comments by US President Don­ald Trump suggest the case against her is politically motivated. “We trust in Canada’s judicial system, which will prove Ms Meng’s innocence,” Huawei said as the proceedings began.

Ms Meng was detained in December 2018 in Vancouver as she was changing flights — on the same day Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for trade talks. Prosecutors have stressed that her case was separate from the wider China-US trade dispute, but Mr Trump undercut that message weeks after her arrest when he said he would consider intervening in the case if it would help forge a trade deal with Beijing.

China and the US reached a “phase-one” trade agreement last week, but most analysts say any meaningful resolution of the main US allegation — that Beijing uses predatory tactics in its drive to supplant America’s technological supremacy — could require years of contentious talks.

Mr Trump had raised the possibility of using Huawei’s fate as a bargaining chip in the trade talks, but the deal on Wednesday did not mention the company.

Huawei is the biggest global supplier of network gear for mobile phone and internet companies. Washington is pressuring other countries to limit use of its technology, warning that they could be opening themselves up to surveillance and theft.

The initial stage of Ms Meng’s extradition hearing this week is focusing on whether her alleged crimes are crimes both in the US and Canada. Her lawyers filed a motion on Friday arguing that Ms Meng’s case was really about US sanctions against Iran, not a fraud case. Canada does not have similar sanctions on Iran.

Richard Peck, Ms Meng’s lawyer, said in court on Tuesday that the fraud allegations were a ­“facade” and the charges are ­really about the US attempting to enforce its sanctions on Iran. “Would we be here in the absence of US sanctions law? My response is no,” Mr Peck said.

The second phase, scheduled for June, will consider defence allegations that Canada Border Services, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the FBI violated Ms Meng’s rights while collecting evidence before she was arrested.

The extradition case could take years to resolve if there are ­appeals. Nearly 90 per cent of those arrested in Canada on extradition requests from the US were surrendered to American authorities between 2008 and 2018.

AP