EditorialLegal process should be allowed to take its course in Meng Wanzhou case

As the Huawei heiress marks one year since being detained at Vancouver airport, a Canadian court is still to decide whether she can expect a fair trial if extradited to the United States

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Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, leaves her home in Vancouver, Canada, for a court appearance in October while wearing an electronic ankle tag. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 9:30pm, 4 Dec 2019Updated: 5:54am, 25 Dec 2021

Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou has passed the first anniversary of her detention while in transit in Vancouver still under house arrest and locked in a struggle to defeat Washington’s bid to have a Canadian court extradite her to the United States. It is far from clear whether she will learn her fate by the second anniversary on December 1 next year, given that the extradition hearing is not expected to begin until next month or end before October or November. It has been an ordeal by legal process and delay, as her lawyers fight the legality of her detention and possible surrender to the US to face fraud charges related to the telecommunications giant’s alleged breach of US sanctions on Iran.

Canada may uphold judicial independence and impartiality as hallmarks of justice. But coming during the trade war between China and the US, the arrest and detention of Huawei’s chief financial officer and daughter of founder Ren Zhengfei was bound to become embroiled in partisan politics. With President Donald Trump having spoken at one time of intervening in her case if it would help end the trade war, the arrest inevitably came to be viewed in a political light, with Meng seen as a pawn in the trade conflict.

It also marked the escalation of the so-called US-China tech war, after it had simmered for years over issues such as technology transfer and intellectual property rights. In May, amid claims that Huawei products could be used for spying, the US put the company on a blacklist restricting purchase of hi-tech US components such as chips and software, a sanction since postponed by 90-day waivers amid concerns it would hurt US suppliers just as much.

The sensitivity of Meng’s case is captured in resistance from her lawyers to an application by media for cameras to be allowed into the extradition hearing, because they fear unfettered coverage could prompt an unpredictable intervention from Trump.

Beijing and Ottawa seem no closer to resolving difficulties arising from Meng’s arrest and the subsequent detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in China on vague national security charges. China’s ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu has maintained Beijing’s stance that Meng must be released. That said, she remains under house arrest in her own home in Vancouver, with access to her legal team, while the circumstances of the two Canadians are less transparent.

China has warned of further unspecified action. Its concerns are understandable. But Canada’s judicial system and rule of law are internationally respected. The judge has to weigh the evidence and determine whether Meng can get a fair trial. Even after a year, everyone’s interests will be best served if the legal process is allowed to take its course.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} As the Huawei heiress marks one year since being detained at Vancouver airport, a Canadian court is still to decide whether she can expect a fair trial if extradited to the United States

As the Huawei heiress marks one year since being detained at Vancouver airport, a Canadian court is still to decide whether she can expect a fair trial if extradited to the United States