Canada’s top diplomat in China says the Huawei executive arrested in Vancouver at the request of the United States has a strong case to fight extradition.
Meng Wanzhou, the 46-year-old chief financial officer of the telecom giant, has “quite good arguments on her side,” John McCallum said at a news conference with Canadian Chinese-language media in Markham, Ont., on Tuesday.
“One, political involvement by comments from Donald Trump in her case. Two, there’s an extraterritorial aspect to her case, and three, there’s the issue of Iran sanctions which are involved in her case, and Canada does not sign on to these Iran sanctions. So I think she has some strong arguments that she can make before a judge,” he said in his opening remarks.
McCallum said a judge will ultimately make the decision on whether she should be extradited, and stressed there has been “zero involvement” by the federal government.
“It’s purely a judicial process. There may come a time when the justice minister is required to give a view, but that will not be for some months to come,” he said.
“I know this has angered China, but we have a system of extradition treaty, a system of rules of law, which are above the government. The government cannot change these things, and as I said, I think Ms. Meng has quite a strong case.”
Meng is accused of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran through a Huawei subsidiary.
Meng’s case has drawn international attention, and sparked diplomatic tensions between Canada and China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Tuesday said Canada and the U.S. had abused the extradition agreement in Meng’s case.
David MacNaughton, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., confirmed to CBC News early Tuesday that U.S. officials have indicated to him they will soon file the formal request needed in the extradition case.
There is a Jan. 30 deadline to complete this work.
Canadians detained in China
Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been detained in China in what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has described as “arbitrary” detentions in retaliation for Meng’s arrest. Chinese officials has said only that the two men are accused of “engaging in activities endangering national security.”
Another Canadian, Robert Schellenberg, recently had his 15-year sentence for drug smuggling changed to a death sentence by a Chinese court after a retrial.
McCallum said there had been great progress in strengthening Canada-China relations before Meng’s case erupted. He said while it is a “difficult time” in bilateral relations, officials and business leaders should continue to move forward.
Canada has issued a travel advisory for China that warns of arbitrary detention, and China has reciprocated with its own warning about Canada. Citing the “arbitrary detention” of a Chinese national at the request of a “third-party country,” China asked citizens to “fully evaluate risks” and exercise caution when travelling to Canada.
McCallum said the government is not saying don’t go to China, but rather that each person must make a personal decision after evaluating the situation. If someone has a history of running afoul of Chinese laws, it’s probably not a good idea to go, but ordinary tourists or business people should have no reason not to travel there, he said.
from Update Trend News http://bit.ly/2CDbpPO
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