Huawei Executive Treated as 'Ransom' in US Extradition Case
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Court ruling for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou extradition reaches its final stages as Canada-China tensions US sore.
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Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who has been away from her husband and children for almost 3 years.
Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou is in the crosshairs of the US-China economic war.
Detained in 2018 at Vancouver International Airport as a result of an extradition order from the United States, 1,000 days have passed since the US fraud warrant has cornered the executive under a house arrest.
Allegedly, Wanzhou was arrested on the count of providing misleading information to HSBC about Huawei's business dealings with Iran.
Although Meng's continued detainment is illegal, Canadian officials have expressed its necessity under the premise of diplomatic obligations and duties between Canada and the US.
Richard Peck, the lead lawyer following Meng's case, asserted that the extradition was "antithetical to Canadian values," as he told the Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
Peck stressed to Judge Holmes to stay the proceedings instead of taking the extradition decision, saying that the Canadian government repeatedly invoked the "rule of law." It was also reiterated that allowing the extradition to proceed will send a negative message to international powers as Trump's abusive policies, which have stretched onto Biden's term, aimed to score an economic deal with China.
Peck's colleague, Tony Paisana, said: "Meng Wanzhou has sat here for three years, mostly away from her husband and children, in a country that is not her home … What has been lost in all this is that Ms. Meng is a human being, deserving of respect and dignity."
The arrest has worsened relations not only between China and Washington, but also between the former and Ottawa, as the court enters the final stage of arguments which may lead to an actual extradition.
On the other hand, two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were arrested in China and were put on trial for espionage in 2021. However, verdicts have not been announced; the Canadian government deemed the two men victims of "arbitrary detention."
