Canada extradites Huawei director and sparks China's fury

A few hours after Canada announced the official launch of Meng's extradition proceedings, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lu Kang, asked the two North American countries to end the process, release it immediately and let it "return to China safely".

"The abuse by the United States and Canada of their extradition rules is a serious violation of the legitimate rights of a Chinese citizen", said the spokesperson, who described what happened as "serious political event".

The Department of Justice Canada cleared Friday to formally begin the process of extraditing the daughter of the founder of the Chinese telecommunications multinational, arrested on December 1 in Vancouver, Canada, as she surrendered to the court. Mexico

In January, the US Justice Department charged Huawei, two affiliates and Meng with 13 counts of fraud and conspiracy to circumvent the sanctions imposed by Washington on Iran.

The technology giant's directive is currently on bail, he is forbidden to leave his mansion in Vancouver and will have to appear on March 6 before the Supreme Court of British Columbia to begin the extradition process.

This decision threatens to aggravate the serious diplomatic crisis unleashed between Canada and China since the arrest of Meng last December by the arrest of two Canadians, the Chinese diplomat. Michael Kovrig and the entrepreneur Michael Spavor.

Accused of endangering China's national security, they are still held in that Asian country and have limited access to Canadian diplomatic representatives and their lawyers.

Huawei's case is set in the midst of a trade war between China and the United States. and, although the link has not been officially confirmed, China sees a direct link to the battle for tariffs that the two major powers have been fighting for months.

Precisely on Friday, a new chapter in the war was lived after US President Donald Trump called on China to lift "duty-free" tariffs on US agricultural products before progress trade negotiations between the two countries.

Xi and Trump agreed in December on a 90-day tariff break, a few months in which China has adopted several goodwill measures to reach an agreement, such as lower taxes on US vehicles and resumption of the purchase of soybeans. from this country.

Huawei has been in the US government's line of fire for years, saying the company poses a threat to national security because of its alleged links to Beijing and its security services.

However, since China, badysts, journalists and government officials have said many times since Meng's arrest that it was an American attempt to end the technological supremacy of Chinese society. , one of the leading companies in 5G technology.