With the end of the long-standing conflict over Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, China’s relationship with the USA and Canada is one point of controversy poorer. Canada has the top manager of the Chinese group who was appointed in Vancouver at the end of 2018 leave the countryafter entering into a deal with the US authorities. China immediately dispatched two Canadian businessmen who had been held for almost as long a flight home.
The Huawei CFO and daughter of the company’s founder Ren Zhengfei was arrested in December 2018 at the instigation of the US authorities in Vancouver, Canada. The US government accused the manager of the network equipment and smartphone provider, among other things, of bank fraud. Meng always protested her innocence and accused the authorities of violating her rights during the arrest.
In Beijing, the process was seen as part of the trade war between then US President Donald Trump and China. As part of their agreement with the US Department of Justice, Meng now indirectly admitted that they had misinformed a bank about Huawei’s business in Iran.
According to the deal the proceedings against Meng should initially be put on hold until December 1, 2022 and then discontinued if she adheres to the terms of the agreement. Among other things, Meng undertook not to contradict the presentation of individual facts by the US side. But she stayed with her claim of innocence until the end.
Two Canadians return from China
The Meng case had assumed political dimensions on a larger scale. Shortly after the manager was arrested, Chinese authorities arrested two Canadian businessmen. In August of this year, one of them was finally found guilty of espionage and obtaining state secrets and sentenced to 11 years in prison. China reaped protests from abroad and the accusation of “hostage diplomacy”. The second Canadian also had to answer to court in China for espionage allegations. In the end, there was no judgment against the former diplomat.
Instead, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was able to announce after the agreement in the Meng case on Saturday night that his two compatriots were on their way home on a plane. At this point, Meng had already left Canada – with an airplane chartered by the Chinese government, as the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Relations between the Beijing and Ottawa governments have been strained since Meng’s arrest. China imposed import restrictions on rapeseed oil and other export goods from Canada. At least three alleged Canadian drug smugglers have also been sentenced to death in the People’s Republic.