The United States will soon make a formal request seeking extradition of Chief Financial Officer of Huawei. The justice department of the United States in a statement said that they would file a request with Canada. This is the next step in a bid to stop the Chinese company in the US as it considers the company a threat to its national security. Last month, Meng Wanzhou a Chinese executive and the daughter of the Huawei founder were arrested in Vancouver at the request of the United States. We accused the executive of using Skycom which is a subsidiary of Huawei to evade sanctions on Iron which both she and the company denies.
The arrest led to tensions between US, China, and Canada and the recent request for extradition of the companies CFO raising the pertinent question of how far the US may go to prevent Huawei from operating in the country. The Chinese ministry for Foreign Affairs had requested for the release of Meng and also claimed that both Canada and United States are abusing the extradition treaty. A spokeswoman from the ministry Hua Chunying said in a briefing said that the case related to Meng is not a legal case and that Canada ‘made a serious mistake at the beginning.’ She further added that ‘We also urge the US to correct their mistakes and withdraw the arrest for Meng Wanzhou.’
The situation is also complicated because the President of US Trump suggesting his intervention in this episode if it gives him more leverage on his trade deal with China. With that statement by Trump, China’s who had till them maintained that Meng’s arrest was politically motivated got more credence. It is now thought to be a more of a clash over technology and trade and less law related. The US Canadian Ambassador while speaking about the Meng’s case said that though there was great pressure from China, Canada is doing all it should, including the following of the laws of the nation and international obligations. He told that ‘I have not ever asked the Americans to withdraw their request’ and he also said that he has asked clarification on this being a legal issue and got nothing to do with the trade war between China and the US.
After the arrest of Meng, China has arrested two Canadians on suspicious activities that put Chinese security in danger.
