China summons US envoy to protest ‘unreasonable’ arrest of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou, threatens to retaliate
- China foreign ministry says US should withdraw the warrant which is ‘unreasonable demand’ on Canada
- Further actions vowed depending on US response
China’s foreign ministry summoned US ambassador Terry Branstad on Sunday to protest the “unreasonable” arrest in Canada of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s chief financial officer, a day after calling in Canada’s representative in Beijing over the matter.
Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou, daughter of the company’s founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada on December 1. She faces extradition to the US following US Justice Department allegations that she covered up Huawei’s links to an Iranian company, which would have violated US sanctions.
Meng’s bail hearing ended on Friday without a decision and will continue on Monday.
“The actions of the US have seriously violated the legitimate and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and are extremely bad in nature,” China’s Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng told Branstad, according to state news agency Xinhua.
“The Chinese side resolutely opposes this and strongly urges the US to attach great importance to China's solemn stance and immediately take measures to correct wrong practices and withdraw arrest warrants against Chinese citizens,” Xinhua cited Le as saying.
