Accusations that political motives are behind American efforts to have Huawei executive Sabrina Meng Wanzhou extradited from Canada to face fraud charges would seem to have been confirmed by US President Donald Trump. He said after the daughter of the leading Chinese technology company’s founder was freed on bail by a Vancouver court that he was willing to intervene in the United States Justice Department’s case to avoid further deterioration in relations with China. Linking the arrest to the trade war all but confirms suspicions and calls into question the independence of the US judicial system. There are now understandable worries about whether a fair trial is possible should extradition take place and businesspeople the world over have cause for concern about being arrested on dubious grounds by the long arm of American law.

Her release after three days of bail hearings and order to return to court on February 6 does not calm tensions. Trump’s suggestion that the case could be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations on the trade war only complicates an already complex situation. There has been no explicit indication that the arrest in mainland China of Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat now working for the non-governmental organisation the International Crisis Group, is a retaliatory step by Beijing. Meng’s arrest put relations between China and Canada on a collision course, even though Ottawa was obliged to do so under an extradition treaty with the US.