Before she became the central figure in a fractious international dispute, Meng Wanzhou was little known in her home country. She received scant mention in a domestic media establishment that lionizes business icons. She was largely absent from social media. Even among the country’s elite, she was not considered one of the true heirs to Communist Party power and fortune.
But the Vancouver arrest of Ms. Meng in December has suddenly elevated the Huawei executive to a place of singular importance to the Chinese state, a woman who has become for Beijing an embodiment both of Chinese ambition and insecurity. “China is protecting Meng Wanzhou as if it was defending the core of the country,” said Bao Tong, a former top Communist Party official who, though he was long ago turfed from the Chinese leadership, remains a keen observer of its work.
But the Vancouver arrest of Ms. Meng in December has suddenly elevated the Huawei executive to a place of singular importance to the Chinese state, a woman who has become for Beijing an embodiment both of Chinese ambition and insecurity. “China is protecting Meng Wanzhou as if it was defending the core of the country,” said Bao Tong, a former top Communist Party official who, though he was long ago turfed from the Chinese leadership, remains a keen observer of its work.
