An executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei – arrested at YVR last week amid an extradition bid by the U.S. – has been released on $10 million bail.
Wanzhou Meng, 46, was granted bail after a three-day hearing at the BC Supreme Court in Vancouver.
Meng, Huawei’s chief financial officer, must report to a bail supervisor, maintain good behaviour, live at a house in Vancouver’s westside, owned by her husband, Liu Xiaozong, and stay in that house between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
She will not be allowed to leave B.C. and isn’t allowed to go near YVR.
Meng’s arrest has caused outrage in China, with her native country warning Canada and the U.S. of “consequences” unless the matter is resolved quickly.
She is thought to be facing extradition to the U.S. in connection with fraud charges related to U.S. sanctions on Iran.
After her arrest at YVR on Dec. 1 – while changing flights en route from Hong Kong to Mexico – Meng had to be taken to Richmond Hospital, suffering from hypertension.
Richmond North Centre MLA Teresa Wat is no stranger to Huawei, having made many trade trips to Asia, as part of her role as Minister of International Trade and Minister Responsible for the Asia Pacific Strategy, when her B.C. Liberal Party were in power.
Wat, along with then premier Christy Clark, openly courted Huawei during those trade missions.
In 2015, Wat was present with Clark at Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, China when the telecom giant announced a memorandum of understanding with Telus to establish a "5G Living Lab" in Vancouver – a project which was to test a next-generation converged fibre-wireless network.
And during a trip to meet with Huawei executives in November 2015, she received a $500 Huawei cellphone, which she declared as part of public disclosure the following year.
Prior to the arrest of Meng Wanzhou – who faces possible charges in the U.S. fraud connecting to trade sanctions with Iran - the U.S. has pressured European countries and other allies to limit use of Huawei’s technology, warning they could be opening themselves up to surveillance and theft of information.
Canada is one of the few remaining Western nations to apparently ignore those warnings and has welcomed the company to do business here, including in B.C. and Richmond.
Given her close ties with Huawei, the Richmond News asked Wat for her thoughts on why Canada seems to be the exception to the rule for Western nations when it comes to dealing with Huawei.
However, a B.C. Liberal Party caucus spokesperson spoke in her stead, saying that Wat is “refraining from comment,” due to the “international sensitivity” surrounding the subject.
He added that no comment would be forthcoming due to the “fact that Canada isn’t directly involved.”
The News was one of the first in the world to break the news last Wednesday (Dec. 5) of Meng’s arrest at YVR.
