Huawei exec loses battle in extradition fight
An executive for Chinese tech giant Huawei suffered a legal setback Wednesday when a Canadian judge ruled that proceedings to extradite her to the United States will go ahead.
The decision on so-called double criminality, a key test for extradition, found that bank fraud accusations against Meng Wanzhou would stand up in Canada.
The interim ruling denying Meng's attempt to gain her freedom means she will continue to live in a Vancouver mansion under strict bail conditions while her case plays out.
It also effectively dashed hopes for a quick mending of Canada-China relations, which soured following her arrest on a US warrant in 2018 during a stopover in Vancouver.
Prosecutors accused Meng of committing fraud by lying to a bank, in this case an American one. That is a crime in both Canada and the United States.
During four days of hearings in January, the court heard that Meng lied to the HSBC bank about Huawei's relationship with its own Iran-based affiliate Skycom in order to secure nearly US$1 billion in loans and credit, putting the bank at risk of violating US sanctions.
Huawei said in a statement it was "disappointed" by the ruling, adding that it looked forward to Meng ultimately being exonerated.
China's Embassy in Ottawa, meanwhile, accused the United States of trying "to bring down Huawei" and Canada of being "an accomplice."
Beijing has long signaled that her repatriation was a precondition for improved bilateral ties and its release of two Canadians detained on espionage suspicions.
The arrests of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor nine days after Meng was taken into custody have been widely decried as retribution.
China has also blocked billions of dollars' worth of Canadian agricultural exports.
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