torsdag 19. august 2021

Meng Wanzhou extradition case wraps up but verdict will take months

After two and a half years of legal wrangling, an extradition hearing over Meng Wanzhou has wrapped up, leaving the fate of Huawei’s chief financial officer – and potentially that of two detained Canadians caught up in a geopolitical tussle – in the hands of a British Columbia judge. The arrest and legal saga of the telecoms executive has become a source of immense tension between the economic superpowers China and the United States, but it has been Canada – and two of its citizens – that have suffered the steepest collateral damage.

Meng, daughter of the Huawei founder, Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on a provisional warrant on 1 December 2018 as she transited in the Vancouver airport, en route to Mexico City.  In a move widely seen as retaliation by Beijing, two Canadians – Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor – were detained days later and eventually charged with espionage-related crimes. Canada has rejected the charges, accusing China of engaging in “hostage diplomacy”. Spavor was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison.