Canadian PM Trudeau denies political ties to Huawei arrest

CANADIAN Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has denied any political involvement in the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive at the Vancouver airport, reports Toronto's National Post.

China has summoned the US ambassador in Beijing to protest the detention of a senior Huawei executive in Canada after US law enforcement officials issued a warrant for her arrest last week, reports Reuters.



Earlier it had be reported that the arrest warrant had been issued and in Canadian hand since August. It was also unreported the name of the police agency that made the arrest, where Meng Wanzhou, 46, the chief financial officer of Shenzhen-based Huawei and the daughter of its founder, is being held, and the rank of the arresting officer, indicating the level of importance assigned to the case by Canadian authorities.



The official Xinhua news agency said the vice-foreign minister, Le Yucheng, had 'lodged solemn representations and strong protests' with the ambassador, Terry Branstad, against the detention of Ms Meng, though it is claimed she was taken to hospital for high blood pressure.



The Xinhua report quoted Mr Le as calling Ms Meng's detention 'extremely egregious', demanding the US cancel the order for her arrest and saying China would take further action.



The statement came after Canadian ambassador John McCallum to China was summonded and received a warning of 'grave consequences' if she were not released.



Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Shenzhen-based Huawei and the daughter of its founder, on Saturday as she was changing planes to face extradition to New York where she would face charges for involvment with illicit technology transfer to Iran contrary to international sanctions.



She has appeared in a Vancouver court on for a bail hearing. She is facing extradition to the United States on US suspicions that Huawei violated sanctions against Iran by providing that country with telecommunications equipment.



Details about the arrest are under a publication ban at Ms Meng's request.



Mr Trudeau denied that there was any political impetus to the decision to detain Ms Meng. 'The appropriate authorities took the decisions in this case. We were advised by them with a few days' notice that this was in the works, but there was no engagement or involvement in the political level in this decision because we respect the independence of our judicial processes,' he said.



A scheduled meeting between Canadian MPs and Chinese officials has been cancelled, raising the question of whether China wanted to halt highlevel talks altogether. The Chinese embassy confirmed to the National Post that it was rescheduled 'due to visa issues'.



Aside from demanding Ms Meng's release - with the Chinese embassy saying it 'firmly opposes and strongly protests over such kind of actions which seriously harmed the human rights of the victim' - China appears to be in a holding pattern, with experts suggesting that it is unlikely the country will retaliate immediately.


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