China renews call on Canada to free Huawei executive

China has once again called on the Canadian government to immediately release detained Chinese national and Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

Meng, who has been detained in Canada since December last year on US-filed charges, is awaiting repatriation to the United States for trial.

At a regular press briefing on Wednesday, Geng Shuang, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, urged the re-elected Canadian government to immediately release Weng.

Meng, who is Huawei’s chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder, was arrested during a stopover at Vancouver Airport on a US extradition request on December 1, 2018.

The 46-year-old senior executive of the giant telecom company is charged in the US with bank fraud, and is accused of misleading HSBC Holdings PLC about Huawei Technologies’ business in Iran, which is under US sanctions.

Meng has denied any wrongdoing and is out of jail on bail. Although she cannot leave Vancouver, she is allowed to move about in the city freely wearing a tracking device on her ankle.

SS