China demands immediate release of Huawei CFO after she's arrested in Canada
After the CFO of China-based global tech giant Huawei Technologies was arrested in Vancouver this past week, the Chinese government is now demanding she be released.
Wanzhou Meng was arrested in Vancouver on December 1 while she was transferring flights at YVR, and according to the Canada’s justice department, she’s sought for extradition by the United States.
In a statement to Daily Hive, Federal Department of Justice spokesperson Ian McLeod confirmed that a bail hearing has been set for this Friday, but declined to offer any further details on the case, citing a publication ban that he said was requested by Meng.
In response to her arrest, Huawei said in a statement it was “not aware of any wrongdoing” by Meng and said it had been provided “very little information” on the incident, other than Meng being detained by Canadian authorities on behalf of the US when she was transferring flights in Canada.
On Thursday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Geng Shuang responded to news of her arrest, demanding clarification regarding the reason for her arrest, as well as her immediate release.
“Neither the US nor Canada has made any clarification on the reason for the detention so far,” he said.
Speaking at a press conference, Shuang responded to allegations that Meng’s arrest had to do with Chinese intelligence services being suspected of involvement in the hacking of the US hotel group Marriot, saying that he was “not aware” of the situation.
“China firmly opposes all forms of cyber attack and cracks down on them in accordance with law,” he furthered. “We firmly object to making groundless accusations on the issue of cybersecurity.”
He also responded to the idea that Meng could be found guilty in Canada for being in breach of sanctions the US has imposed on Iran.
“As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has been faithfully and strictly implementing all the resolutions adopted by the Security Council,” he said. “We oppose the imposition of unilateral sanctions by certain country outside the framework of the Security Council.”
This position, he added, “is consistent and clear-cut.”
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