A senior Chinese diplomat explained that arresting Huawei’s chief financial officer was not just a legal process. It is rather a deliberate political action.
„The United States uses its power for political purposes to conduct a witch hunt against a Chinese high-tech enterprise,“ wrote Lu Shaye, China’s ambassador to Ottawa, in an article published Thursday in The Globe and Mail.
Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co., was arrested in Canada on December 1 when she was about to board a plane to Mexico in Vancouver. On Tuesday she was released on bail of 10 million Canadian dollars. Currently, hearings are taking place about possible extradition to the US.
„All is due to the fact that many still have a Cold War mentality and believe that China – a socialist country led by the Chinese Communist Party – would be an abnormal country,“ Lu wrote. „They fear that China overtakes the Western countries too quickly and soon outclasses them economically, scientifically and technologically.“
Lu suspects that the harassment is due to the US pursuing a power policy vis-à-vis other countries and gaining a tremendous advantage thanks to its national strength. Regarding Canada, he wrote that Meng had been disproportionately detained for failing to violate Canadian law. This was clearly not an independence of the judiciary, but a miscarriage of justice.
That many Canadians have criticized their government for their unreasonable behavior, Lu described as pleasing. „The Chinese people have a good impression of Canada. But this behavior puts his feelings to the test. “
US constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein told Chinese television station CGTN that a violation of Iran’s sanctions on US national security is insignificant. Therefore, such violations would normally only be punished by a fine. „All the irregularities in this case suggest a political motivation.“
If Canada comes to the conclusion that the motivation for the extradition request is not based on prosecution, but primarily to send a political signal to China, then Meng would not be extradited.
