BEIJING, Dec 10, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – China on Monday ratcheted up its protest
over the arrest of an executive of telecom giant Huawei on a US warrant in
Canada, calling reports of her treatment “inhumane” as she seeks her release
on bail for health reasons.
China’s latest tirade over the case came as Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of
the company’s founder, faces a Canadian court’s decision on bail later Monday
in Vancouver.
Meng’s arrest on December 1 has infuriated Beijing, rocking stock markets
and raising tensions amid a truce in the US-China trade war.
A Chinese vice foreign minister summoned the US and Canadian ambassadors at
the weekend, demanding that the US withdraw its arrest warrant and warning
Canada that it faces “grave consequences”.
Meng, 46, faces US fraud charges related to alleged sanctions-breaking
dealings with Iran.
In a 55-page sworn affidavit, Meng said she has suffered from severe
hypertension for years and has been treated in a Canadian hospital since her
arrest.
“I continue to feel unwell and I am worried about my health deteriorating
while I am incarcerated,” the document read.
Meng said that she has had “numerous health problems” during her life,
including surgery for thyroid cancer in 2011.
“I wish to remain in Vancouver to contest my extradition and I will
contest the allegations at trial in the US if I am ultimately surrendered,”
she said.
China’s state-run Global Times newspaper reported, without citing sources,
that “it seems that the Canadian detention facility is not offering her the
necessary health care”. “We believe this is inhumane and violates her human
rights,” foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a regular press briefing,
citing such reports.
Lu also said the Canadian government did not immediately notify the
Chinese embassy or consulate about Meng’s arrest, as it should have under a
consular agreement.
China has itself faced global criticism over its human rights record and
treatment of detained activists and minorities.
Last year, dissident Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo died of liver
cancer while in custody after China rejected international appeals to let him
travel abroad for treatment.
The international community has voiced concern about reports that up to one
million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities are held in internment
camps in the northwest region of Xinjiang.
– Flight risk? –
In a bail hearing that was adjourned on Friday, Canadian Crown prosecutor
John Gibb-Carsley asked for bail to be denied, saying Meng has been accused
of “conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions”.
If convicted, she faces more than 30 years in prison. The extradition
process could take months, even years, if appeals are made in the case.
Meng said she has ties to Vancouver that go back 15 years. She and her
husband own several properties in the city, and she even had a Canadian
permanent residency permit that she has since renounced.
Analysts say her arrest could be used as a bargaining chip in trade
negotiations between the United States and China.
Meng was arrested the same day that presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping
agreed to a 90-day trade war truce.
– National security threat? –
But US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer rejected suggestions that
the case could affect the negotiations, as the two sides face a March 1
deadline to reach an agreement.
Meng’s arrest “shouldn’t really have much of an impact” on the talks,
Lighthizer told CBS’s “Face the Nation”, although he conceded that the
Chinese side might see it that way.
“For us, it’s unrelated” to trade policy matters. “It’s criminal justice.”
Separately, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow denied reports that
Trump was “livid” that the arrest of Meng occurred while the US leader dined
with Xi.
“He didn’t know,” Kudlow told “Fox News Sunday.” “He learned way later.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said politics played no part in
the decision to arrest Meng.
While the White House denies any connection between the trade talks and
the arrest, US concerns about security linked to the ambitions of Chinese
high-tech companies and the alleged theft of intellectual property are at the
heart of the trade dispute.
Huawei has denied any ties to the Chinese government, but many in
Washington and other Western capitals are sceptical and have raised security
concerns.
US federal law already bans military and government use of devices made by
Huawei and fellow Chinese firm ZTE.
Influential Republican Senator Marco Rubio told “Face the Nation” that he
plans to reintroduce legislation that would ban companies like Huawei from
doing business in the US because they “pose a threat to our national
interests.”