China syndromeCanada-Detained Senior Huawei Executive a Step Closer to Being Extradited to U.S.

Published 27 May 2020

A Canadian judge has rejected efforts by a senior Huawei executive to evade extradition to the United States to face a series of charges. Meng Wanzhou was arrested in December 2018 on a U.S. warrant while on a stopover at the Vancouver international airport. Meng is charged with lying to prospective investors by hiding the fact that Huawei was selling communication gear to Iran in breach of U.S. sanctions. The Canadian investors would have been legally and financially exposed to U.S. penalties because their investment in Huawei would have made them unwitting participants in breaching the sanctions.

A Canadian judge has rejected efforts by a senior Huawei executive to evade extradition to the United States to face a series of charges.

Judge Heather Holmes of the British Columbia supreme court ruled on Wednesday that the actions attributed to Meng Wanzhou by the U.S. Department of Justice would be considered a crime in Canada, a key condition for extradition to proceed.

Meng was arrested in December 2018 on a U.S. warrant while on a stopover at the Vancouver international airport. China pressured Canada to let Meng leave the country, imposing punitive trade measures in retaliation when Canada refused to do so.

U.S. prosecutors say that Meng committed fraud when she lied about links between Huawei and a shell company Huawei used to sell telecommunications equipment to Iran in breach of U.S. sanctions.

Huawei, a telecommunication tech giant, is heavily subsidized by the Chinese government, and the U.S. intelligence community has collected ample evidence on the tight relationship between Huawei and China’s intelligence and defense establishments.

The BBC reports thar the main issue in the judge’s Wednesday ruling was the question of “double criminality” – whether Meng’s alleged actions in the United States would be considered a crime in Canada.

Canadian prosecutors argued that Meng lied to prospective investors at large bank by hiding Huawei’s clandestine dealing with Iran from them, thus putting them at risk of being in breach of U.S. sanctions. The prosecutors argues that this deceptive conduct by Meng amounted to fraud which would have placed the prospective investors in serious legal and financial jeopardy.

Justice Holmes concurred, finding that the “essence of the alleged wrongful conduct” lay in the deliberate attempts to misled bankers. She also determined that while the alleged attempt to evade American sanctions on Iran could have harmed the bank, the act was not a central component of the offense.

Meng’s lawyers argued that since Canada has not imposed sanctions on Iran, Meng’s presentations to investors did not amount to a fraud because the Canadian banks would not be in breach of any law in Canada, and thus would not be exposed to legal or financial repercussions.

Her lawyers indicated that in their appeal, they will argue that the U.S. and Canadian authorities conspired against Meng.

The judge ordered Meng to stay under house arrest in Vancouver, where she owns two homes and where she had been confined since December 2018. She wears an ankle tracking bracelet and must observe an 8:00pm curfew, but is otherwise free to travel around the city.

Ahead of the verdict, China’s foreign minister, Zhao Lijan, called the case against Meng a “serious political incident” that had violated her rights.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has flatly rejected the Chinese allegations that the case is politically motivated.

“Canada has an independent judicial system that functions without interference or override by politicians,” the prime minister said last week. “China doesn’t work quite the same way and doesn’t seem to understand that.”