China accuses Canada of being “complicit” with the US after the Canadian Justice decided to continue with the extradition to the United States to a senior Huawei executive.
Supreme Court Justice of British Columbia (Canada) Heather Holmes has decided this Wednesday to follow up the extradition procedures of the number two of the Chinese company Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, for bank fraud, a crime that the US Government accuses her of.
The ruling, which could further deteriorate relations between Ottawa and Beijing, has immediately provoked a strong reaction from the Chinese embassy in Canada, which has said that the aforementioned country is “complicit in the efforts of the United States for destroying Huawei and Chinese high-tech companies. ”
In turn, the Chinese telecommunications company has expressed its disappointment at the decision made by the Canadian court in a statement, in which it has also stated that “we have repeatedly stated the innocence of Miss Meng”, and then accused Washington of act for political reasons and with the intention of harming Huawei.
“We hope that the Canadian Justice finally proves Ms. Meng’s innocence,” adds the text.
The criminal charges come from the US, which accuses Meng of having used its subsidiary Skycome to sell technological equipment to Iran between 2009 and 2014, conducting financial transactions through the HSBC bank and thus violating US sanctions imposed on the country Persian in August 2018.
Meng, a Chinese citizen and daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zheng, was arrested in December 2018 following an order issued by the US authorities.
Since then, the 48-year-old Chinese senior executive has lived on probation in one of her luxurious residences in Vancouver, southwestern Canada. Meanwhile, Beijing has been vehemently demanding its release for a year and a half.
Diplomatic relations between China and Canada are under great strain after Meng’s arrest and after the arrest of two Canadian citizens on China.
Now, after the decision of the Superior Court of Justice of British Columbia, everything points to the fact that the ties between the two countries could experience greater tension, since Meng’s lawyers are going to appeal the court ruling. Finally, we will have to wait to see whether or not his extradition to the United States takes off.
