China Reacts Over Canada Arrest of Huawei CFO

China has demanded that the United States and Canada should clarify why Canadian authorities since Saturday, December 1, has detained Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei’s chief financial officer Sabrina Meng Wanzhou at the request of the US government.



Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that both the US and Canadian authorities had yet to clarify their reason for arresting Meng, who is also one of Huawei’s deputy chairpersons and a daughter of its founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei.

Geng said Beijing had lodged protests with Washington and Ottawa and offered consular assistance to Meng soon after she was detained.

Her arrest in Vancouver raises more doubts about a 90-day truce on trade struck between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on Saturday, the day she was detained.

Chinese commerce ministry deflected questions that tied Huawei’s crisis to the US-China trade war.

“I don’t have information in this regard at the moment,” ministry spokesman Gao Feng said.

Ottawa confirmed Meng’s arrest on Wednesday.

“Wanzhou Meng was arrested in Vancouver on December 1,” Ian McLeod, a Canadian Justice Department spokesman, said. “She is sought for extradition by the United States, and a bail hearing has been set for Friday.

“As there is a publication ban in effect, we cannot provide any further detail at this time. The ban was sought by Ms Meng,” McLeod said.