Vancouver (AFP) – A top executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei sought release from Canadian detention Monday, offering to submit to strict electronic monitoring, as Beijing…
Vancouver (AFP) – A top executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei sought release from Canadian detention Monday, offering to submit to strict electronic monitoring, as Beijing escalates its protests over her arrest on a US warrant.
Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, faces US fraud charges related to alleged sanctions-breaking dealings with Iran, and has been awaiting a Canadian court’s bail decision — which after two days of hearings was put off until Tuesday.
She was detained in Vancouver on December 1 while changing planes during a trip from Hong Kong to Mexico, for possible extradition.
Her arrest has infuriated Beijing, rocking stock markets and raising tensions amid a truce in the US-China trade war.
Beijing’s latest outcry over the case also led to the suspension of a planned Canadian forestry trade mission to China this week.
Meng has agreed to surrender her passports and submit to electronic monitoring if she is released, pending the outcome of the extradition case.
“Given her unique profile as the face of a Chinese corporate national champion, if she were to flee or breach her order in any way in these very unique circumstances, it does not overstate to say she would embarrass China itself,” Meng’s lawyer David Martin told the court.
He had a tracking bracelet on hand in case she was immediately released.
In a 55-page sworn affidavit, Meng said she has been treated in hospital for hypertension since her arrest.
“I continue to feel unwell and I am worried about my health deteriorating while I am incarcerated,” the affidavit read.
