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Sabrina Meng left the court in downtown Vancouver at around 8pm local time. Photo: CTV

Sabrina Meng Wanzhou: ‘I am proud of Huawei, I am proud of my country’

  • Chinese telecoms executive thanks ‘everyone who is concerned about my situation’ after she is released on bail in Canada
Meng Wanzhou

Huawei Technologies top executive Sabrina Meng Wanzhou said she was proud of her company and her country, hours after she was released on bail in Canada while awaiting trial on fraud charges.

Meng, the Chinese telecoms giant’s chief financial officer and heir apparent, was granted bail by the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver on Tuesday.

“I am in Vancouver and back with my family,” she said in a post on Chinese social media platform WeChat after her release. “I am proud of Huawei, I am proud of my country. Thank you everyone who is concerned about my situation.”

Meng was arrested on December 1 after allegedly lying to banks that Huawei did not sell products to Iran in violation of US and EU sanctions. She could also be extradited to the US to face charges relating to the alleged violations.

Sabrina Meng wrote “I am proud of Huawei, I am proud of my country” in the post on WeChat after she was released. Photo: WeChat

Meng has denied any wrongdoing, and Beijing has insisted that she should be immediately released.

While both the US and Chinese governments have refrained from linking Meng’s arrest to their trade talks, the high-profile detention of the top tech executive has added another layer of complication to tensions and rivalry between the world’s two largest economies.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said in an interview with Reuters that he would intervene in the US Justice Department’s case against Meng if it would help national security or achieve a trade deal with China.

Meng’s three Hong Kong passports due to name changes, court told

On Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said at a regular press conference that Beijing would welcome any move by the US president that would be conducive to their ongoing trade talks.

“If anyone, whether it is the US leader or a senior official, is willing to make active efforts to push [trade talks] towards a positive direction, of course we would welcome that,” Lu said.

Less than two weeks after Meng’s arrest, a Canadian former diplomat was detained in China by state security on Monday night.

China has so far declined to reveal the whereabouts of Michael Kovrig, a senior adviser with the International Crisis Group who was a diplomat in Beijing before he joined the NGO.

Why Huawei and Meng are caught up in the US-China trade war

Lu would not comment on whether Kovrig’s detention was related to Meng’s case, but said Canada should “immediately rectify its mistakes”.

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