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| Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, reads a statement outside the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 24. AP-Yonhap |
Chinese telecoms executive Meng Wanzhou was freed Friday after three years of house arrest in Canada, following an agreement with the US Justice Department to suspend the fraud charges against her that had poisoned Beijing’s relations with Washington and Ottawa.
Meng ― the 49-year-old daughter of Ren Zhengfei, the billionaire founder of world-leading telecoms equipment supplier Huawei ― was granted release in a Vancouver court hearing, hours after US prosecutors announced an agreement in New York under which charges were to be suspended and eventually dropped.
She then quickly boarded a flight to the city of Shenzhen, returning to China for the first time since her arrest in Vancouver’s international airport at the behest of US authorities Dec. 1, 2018.
Her departure led to China immediately releasing two Canadians, businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig, who were arrested and imprisoned on espionage charges in the days after Meng was detained, in what China’s Western critics branded “hostage diplomacy.”
“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Chinese embassy in Canada for their constant support,” Meng told reporters after the hearing in Vancouver.
“Over the past three years, my life has been turned upside down. It was a disruptive time for me as a mother, wife and a company executive,” she said.
“But I believe every cloud has a silver lining. It really was an invaluable experience in my life,” she said.
“The saying goes, the greater the difficulty, the greater the growth.”
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| An Air China flight bound for Shenzhen, believed to be carrying Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, prepares to take off from Vancouver International Aiport in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, Sept. 24. Reuters-Yonhap |
Huawei’s ‘princess’
The resolution of the case removes a deep thorn in relations between Beijing, Washington and Ottawa, with China accusing the United States of a political attack on one of the Asian giant’s technology titans.
Beijing also accused Ottawa of doing Washington’s bidding by arresting and holding Meng, who was known inside Huawei as the “princess” of the company and its possible future leader.
Following her 2018 arrest, she was confined to a palatial mansion with an ankle bracelet for monitoring her movements in the western Canadian city, as she fought extradition to the United States.
The United States had accused her of fraud against HSBC and wire fraud, saying she tried to hide violations of US sanctions on Iran by Huawei affiliate Skycom.
It said Huawei routed Skycom-linked payments through the US banking system, tying it to the sanctions violations, and said that Meng had served on the Skycom board.
But on Friday, US prosecutors settled for Meng agreeing to a statement of facts in the case.
In exchange, they agreed to defer the charges ― which carried the risk of up to 30 years in prison ― until Dec. 1, 2022, and then drop them if Meng abides by the terms of the agreement.
“In entering into the deferred prosecution agreement, Meng has taken responsibility for her principal role in perpetrating a scheme to defraud a global financial institution,” acting US Attorney Nicole Boeckmann said in a statement.
“Meng’s admissions are evidence of a consistent pattern of deception to violate US law,” said FBI Assistant Director Alan Kohler.
US campaign against Huawei
The charges and Meng’s arrest were enmeshed in a broader campaign against Huawei, a private firm that Washington alleges is closely tied to the Chinese government and People’s Liberation Army.
US officials say Huawei’s phones, routers and switching equipment, used widely around the world, offer Chinese intelligence a potent backdoor into global communications.
US government agencies are banned from buying Huawei equipment, and Washington has pressured allies to follow suit.
But Beijing said the US attack was driven by politics and a desire to harm Chinese economic power.
Huawei executive freed in Canada after deal with US prosecutors
Source: Buhay Kapa PH
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