BEIJING \u2014 China summoned the U. S. ambassador to Beijing to protest Canada\u2019s detention of a senior executive of Chinese electronics giant Huawei at Washington\u2019s\u2026<\/b>
\nBEIJING \u2014 China summoned the U. S. ambassador to Beijing to protest Canada\u2019s detention of a senior executive of Chinese electronics giant Huawei at Washington\u2019s behest, demanding the U. S. cancel the order for her arrest.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng \u201clodged solemn representations and strong protests\u201d with Ambassador Terry Branstad on Sunday against the detention of Huawei\u2019s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. Meng, who is reportedly suspected of trying to evade U. S. trade curbs on Iran, was detained on Dec. 1 while changing planes in Vancouver, Canada.
The Xinhua report said Le called Meng\u2019s detention \u201cextremely egregious\u201d and demanded the U. S. vacate the arrest warrant. It said Le urged the U. S. to \u201cimmediately correct its wrong actions,\u201d warning Beijing will take further steps based on Washington\u2019s response.
On Saturday, the Chinese government summoned Canadian Ambassador John McCallum over Meng\u2019s detention. He was also given a warning of \u201cgrave consequences\u201d if she is not released.
The Canadian province of British Columbia said in a statement Sunday it canceled a trade mission to China because of Meng\u2019s detention. The announcement came amid fears China could detain Canadians in retaliation.
Huawei is the biggest global supplier of network gear for phone and internet companies and has been the target of deepening U. S. security concerns over its ties to the Chinese government. The U. S. has pressured European countries and other allies to limit use of its technology, warning they could be opening themselves up to surveillance and theft of information.
Meng\u2019s arrest threatens to add to U. S.-China trade tensions at a time when the two sides are seeking to resolve a dispute over Beijing\u2019s technology and industrial planning.
But U. S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, speaking on CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation,\u201d downplayed the impact of the arrest.
\u201cThis is a criminal justice matter,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is totally separate from anything that I work on or anything that the trade policy people in the administration work on.\u2026 We have a lot of very big, very important issues. We\u2019ve got serious people working on them, and I don\u2019t think they\u2019ll be affected by this.\u201d
Meng, the daughter of Huawei\u2019s founder, was detained on the same day that President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed over dinner to a 90-day cease-fire in the trade dispute.
Hearings on whether to grant her release on bail were due to resume later Monday.
The U. S. alleges that Huawei used a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment in Iran in violation of U. S. sanctions. It also says that Meng and Huawei misled American banks about its business dealings in Iran.
In a brief statement emailed to The Associated Press, Huawei said \u201cWe have every confidence that the Canadian and U. S. legal systems will reach the right conclusion.\u201d
Canadian officials have declined to comment on Chinese threats of retaliation over the case, instead emphasizing the independence of Canada\u2019s judiciary along with the importance of Ottawa\u2019s relationship with Beijing.
While protesting what it calls Canada\u2019s violation of Meng\u2019s human rights, China\u2019s ruling Communist Party stands accused of mass incarcerations of its Muslim minority without due process, locking up people exercising their right to free speech and refusing to allow foreign citizens to leave the country in order to bring pressure on their relatives accused of financial crimes. The party also takes the lead in prosecutions of those accused of corruption or other crimes in a highly opaque process, without supervision from the court system or independent bodies.<\/p>\n