Huawei: Was Canadian ambassador John McCallum trying to defuse Beijing’s anger when he said Meng Wanzhou had ‘strong case’ against extradition?
- John McCallum’s remarks that CFO Sabrina Meng Wanzhou has a strong case against extradition to the US have divided analysts
Analysts are divided over whether Canadian Ambassador John McCallum’s remarks on the Sabrina Meng Wanzhou extradition case were an attempt by Ottawa to defuse tensions with Beijing.
McCallum caused surprise on Wednesday at a press conference with Chinese-language media in Ontario when he said Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, had “quite a strong case” against an extradition request by the US.
The diplomat went on to share his opinion of how Meng could present her defence in the looming extradition hearing.
The US Justice Department has indicated it will proceed before the January 30 deadline with the request to bring Meng from Canada to the US for trial on charges of violating US sanctions and misleading US banks on Huawei’s business activities in Iran.
Political observers in Beijing said McCallum’s comments may have been an attempt by Canada to ease its strained ties with China, although the ambassador could also have been expressing his own opinion.