From Our
Correspondent
BEIJING: An executive of Chinese global communications giant Huawei Technologies has returned from Canada following a legal settlement that also saw the release of two Canadians held by China. Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of the company’s founder, arrived Saturday evening aboard a chartered jet provided by flag carrier Air China in the southern technology hub of Shenzhen, where Huawei is based. Her return, met with a flag-waving group of airline employees, was carried live on state TV, underscoring the degree to which Beijing has linked her case with Chinese nationalism and its rise as a global economic and political power. Wearing a red dress matching the colour of China’s flag, Meng thanked the ruling Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping for supporting her through more than 1,000 days in house arrest in Vancouver, where she owns two multimillion-dollar mansions. “I have finally returned to the warm embrace of the motherland,” Meng said. “As an ordinary Chinese citizen going through this difficult time, I always felt the warmth and concern of the party, the nation and the people.”
Meng, 49, was arrested at Vancouver International Airport in December 2018 on a United States warrant, and was indicted on bank and wire fraud charges for allegedly misleading HSBC in 2013 about the telecommunications equipment giant’s business dealings in Iran. Her arrest sparked a diplomatic storm and drew Canada into the fray when China arrested two Canadians, Michael Spavor, a businessman and Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat shortly after Meng was taken into custody. Beijing has denied publicly that the arrests are linked. Ment spent three years of house arrest in Canada fighting extradition to the United States for allegedly violating US sanctions. Officials said Meng reached an agreement with US prosecutors to end the bank fraud case against her. As part of the deal, known as a deferred prosecution agreement, she accepted responsibility for misrepresenting the company’s business dealings in Iran. The move allows her to leave Canada, relieving a point of tension between China and the US.
