The United States wants to take custody of arrested Huawei Executive Meng Wangzhou, a decision that has earned the ire of China. The New York Times recently reported that American officials are finalizing the steps in order to extradite Huawei chief finance officer Meng Wangzhou and her daughter from Canada.
The Huawei executive was detained in Canada at the request of the United States. The executive was caught and detained in an airport in Vancouver British Columbia on Dec. 1. She faces accusations of violating a handful of sanctions from the United States. One of the charges she faces is misleading American banks into doing business with Iran.
In a statement to the New York Times, Justice Department Marc Raimondi said, "We will continue to pursue the extradition of defendant Ms. Meng Wanzhou, and will meet all deadlines set by the U.S.-Canada Extradition Treaty."
A senior official working for the Canadian Foreign Minister also told the New York Times that Canada has already anticipated the U.S.'s plan to proceed with the extradition process following the arrest of the Huawei executive.
China was quick to issue a response following the U.S.'s request for extradition. China is hard on its stance that the United States should not follow up with the request for extradition as it might contradict with ongoing investigations.
In a response to the action of the United States, a spokesperson from China's Foreign Ministry Spokewoman Hua Chunying said that should Canada comply with the extradition request, the action will "severely infringe" the rights and interests of the person in question.
The request for extradition is viewed by China as an arbitrary abuse of bilateral extradition treaty between Canada and the United States. In her statement, Ms. Hua said that Canada should immediately release the Huawei executive and she also issued a warning against the United States about meddling with other country's affairs.
Many political observers have noted that the extradition request will have a significant impact on the ongoing trade dispute between two of the world's largest economies, China and the United States. It is important to note that representative from the two countries are slated to meet in the coming weeks in order to discuss terms to end the trade war. With the latest action from the United States, many believe that it will have a negative effect with regards to China's actions toward the trade war.
President Donald Trump have also expressed his intention to intervene in the case of the Huawei executive in order to secure a good trade deal with China.
