CHINA-CANADA: DETENTION OF MENG WANZHOU OF HUAWEI
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The Global Times (December 12) in another article said while Canada has freed Meng Wanzhou on bail, but the Huawei executive deserves to be given back her freedom by the courts, bringing closure to the fraught legal saga. It pointed out that the Canadian judge had observed that Meng Wanzhou has no criminal record in China and elsewhere adding that her release should depend also on Canada's obligations to China. Indirectly pointing to the detention of the ICG official and former Canadian diplomat, Global Times cautioned that the world business community has been alarmed by the executive's arrest in Canada and that this has created uncertainty over international travel among corporate executives. It added "Unconditionally freeing Meng will allay such apprehensions". Meanwhile, the ICG in a statement on December 12, claimed that Kovrig "was detained on Monday night in Beijing by the Beijing Bureau of Chinese State Security.”
(Comments: The US decision to extradite Meng Wanzhou to stand trial in the US will have triggered concern in Beijing with the Chinese leadership gearing up for a long drawn confrontation with USA. They would also have got convinced that Washington's intent is to stymie the 'Made in China 2025' technology programme. The sanctions against ZTE and now the CFO of Huawei will not be seen as coincidence. China's detention of Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat now with the ICG, was certainly a reaction to the hearings of Meng Wanzhou in Canada's courts. US businessmen and travellers in China could be at risk.)
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