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Ian Young

He’d been wanting to do it for a long time.
So, outside the British Columbia Supreme Court complex in Vancouver, where Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou was facing a judge as part of her extradition process, Yang Kuang pulled out a Chinese flag on the broken tip of a fishing rod and set it on fire.

A phalanx of photographers and film crews captured the moment on a chilly Wednesday morning.
A string of Meng’s court appearances since her December 1 arrest at Vancouver’s international airport (at the US’ request) have attracted crowds of protesters and rubberneckers.
‘Serious concerns’ over Meng case due to Trump’s comments, says her lawyer
At her December bail hearings, the demonstrators were almost all pro-Meng and pro-Huawei, decrying her detention as a political pursuit by the US, aided and abetted by Canadian lackeys. “Free Meng”, and “We love you Huawei”, had read the placards waved by a mostly Mandarin-speaking crowd, some waving Chinese flags.
The protests mirrored Beijing’s unabated fury at Meng’s arrest to face US criminal charges of bank fraud, conspiracy and obstruction related to alleged breaches of US sanctions on Iran.

But on Wednesday a different scene was unfolding.
Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou sues Canada over detention
There were knots of pro-Meng protesters, but others were waving posters of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, the two Canadians who have been detained by China and accused of working together to steal state secrets.
“Boycott Huawei” read one banner. “Extradite Meng”, and “Release Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig”, read others.


The spoken language of choice was Cantonese (although a handful of white protesters were on hand too). The flags of choice were Canadian.
Except Yang’s, of course.
A well-known activist in Hong Kong, Yang was jailed for eight months in Shenzhen in 2014 for illegally crossing into mainland China, a sentence his family said was politically motivated.
It’s Huawei all the way, as Meng’s supporters converge on Canadian court
Yang had previously made headlines in 2012 by captaining a boat that landed a party of activists on the disputed Diaoyu Islands, which Japan calls the Senkaku Islands. Then in 2013, Yang was arrested in Beijing for “provoking quarrels” while trying to visit the wife of jailed Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo; Yang was sent back to Hong Kong.

He was accepted as a political refugee in Canada in 2015, and now lives in Surrey, outside Vancouver.
Yang said he was angered by the “unreasonable tactics” used by Beijing to deal with Meng’s arrest, namely, detaining Spavor and Kovrig.
“The Canadian government actually used a legal procedure to extradite her to the US,” Yang said, in Cantonese.
Meng’s mansions: inside Huawei CFO’s Canadian connections
“But the Chinese arrested two Canadians using a hostage-taking tactic – ‘you arrest my people, I’ll arrest yours’. I feel that that is extremely unreasonable. So when I found out that there would be protesters here, I came along to protest with them.”

The combustion of the Chinese flag was hardly spontaneous: Yang came prepared with his fishing rod to keep the flames at a safe distance, a foil roasting pan to catch the ashes and a jug of water, in case things got out of hand.
“I have wished to do that for a very long time,” he said. “So burning the flag was to fulfil that wish and to tell people that I am very displeased with everything that the Chinese government has done and to protest against its crackdown on human rights.”
After Yang’s incendiary moment, the ponytailed protester loaded up his equipment in a backpack and sauntered down Nelson Street, a gaggle of curious teenagers in school uniforms trailing behind him.


From dressing Barbie to Michelle Obama, Jason Wu, fashion designer, on how he talked his way into the industry

HSBC suffered no risk from Meng Wanzhou’s alleged deceptions, court hears, as extradition fight enters crucial stage

Boeing 777 was chartered to fly Meng Wanzhou home, Canada court hears as she seeks to have bail relaxed

Canada wants to tax phantom foreign homebuyers to rein in red-hot property prices

Hongcouver

Yang Kuang burned a Chinese flag outside Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou’s court hearing in Vancouver – here’s why

Max Wang, from China and now living in Vancouver, holds a placard during an extradition hearing for Huawei Technologies Co Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou at the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson

epa07417858 Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou (L) shares a laugh with her driver as she leaves her home for the start of her extradition hearing for hearing at BC Supreme Court in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 06 March 2019. The United States is seeking extradition of Meng since she was detained in December 2018 on charges related to accusations that Huawei had tried to steal US technology and had lied about its relationship with an Iranian subsidiary. EPA-EFE/RICH LAM

People hold placards calling for China to release Canadian detainees Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig outside a court hearing for Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou at the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson

Yang Kuang burns a Chinese flag outside the British Columbia Supreme Court complex in Vancouver, where Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou was appearing before a judge. Photo: AFP

There are ‘serious concerns’ over the Meng Wanzhou case due to Donald Trump’s comments, her lawyer tells court

Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou arrives at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Max Wang protests Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou's court appearance at British Columbia Supreme Court, in Vancouver on March 6, 2019. - Meng Wanzhou, the Chinese telecom executive at the center of an escalating row between Ottawa and Beijing, was due in court in Canada to get a date for a hearing into a US extradition request. Meng's arrest in Vancouver in December on a US warrant infuriated China, which arrested several Canadians days later in what was widely seen as retaliation. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP)

epa07417879 Members of the media try to photograph Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou as she arrives at BC Supreme Court for the start of her extradition hearing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 06 March 2019. The United States is seeking extradition of Meng since she was detained in December 2018 on charges related to accusations that Huawei had tried to steal US technology and had lied about its relationship with an Iranian subsidiary. EPA-EFE/RICH LAM

Huawei's Financial Chief Meng Wanzhou leaves her family home in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Ben Nelms

Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou sues Canada over detention

Lawyers for Meng Wanzhou said on Sunday that they had filed a notice of civil claim in the British Columbia Supreme Court. Photo: AP

FILE - In this Dec. 12, 2018, file photo, Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou arrives at a parole office in Vancouver, British Columbia. Canada’s national game _ brought to you by China’s Huawei. As a feud deepens between Beijing and Ottawa over the telecom giant, the company’s sponsorship of the flagship “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcast raised questions about its involvement in a beloved national institution.(Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

It’s all the way with Huawei, as Sabrina Meng Wanzhou’s supporters converge on Canadian courtroom

Joe Luo holding fliers he was handing out to supporters of Huawei CFO Sabrina Meng Wanzhou outside the Supreme Court in Vancouver, Canada on December 10, 2018. Photo: Reuters

People hold a sign at a Vancouver, British Columbia courthouse prior to the bail hearing for Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer on Monday, December 10, 2018. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP)

VANCOUVER, BC - DECEMBER 10: Xiaonzong Liu, the husband of Huawei Technologies CFO Meng Wanzhou, leaves BC Supreme Court as the bail hearing for his wife adjourned for the day on December 10, 2018 in Vancouver, Canada. Meng Wanzhou is facing extradition to the United States related to an ongoing investigation. Rich Lam/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

A protester holds a sign outside the Supreme Court as the hearing for Huawei Technologies Co. Chief Financial Officer Wanzhou Meng continues at the Supreme Court in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Monday, Dec. 10, 2018. The second day of the bail hearing in this high-profile case has transfixed investors on both sides of the Pacific as it stokes U.S.-China trade tensions. Photographer: James MacDonald/Bloomberg

Joe Luo of Vancouver is flocked by media as he holds a pro-Huawei sign outside the bail hearing of Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, at British Columbia Superior Courts following her December 1 arrest in Canada for extradition to the US in Vancouver, British Columbia on December 10, 2018. - A top executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei sought release from Canadian detention on health grounds, as Beijing escalates its protests over her arrest on a US warrant. Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, faces US fraud charges related to alleged sanctions-breaking dealings with Iran, and has been awaiting a Canadian court's bail decision. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP)

Scott Bradley, vice-president of corporate affairs for Huawei, looks at his cellphone outside a bail hearing for Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou at a courthouse in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, Dec. 10, 2018. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP)

Surprise, surprise, Vancouver: Huawei CFO Sabrina Meng Wanzhou is a mansion-owning, satellite-parenting reverse immigrant

In this courtroom sketch, Meng Wanzhou, right, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, sits beside a translator during a bail hearing at British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver, on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. Meng faces extradition to the U.S. on charges of trying to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran. She appeared in a Vancouver court Friday to seek bail. (Jane Wolsak/The Canadian Press via AP)

Meng Wanzhou, Executive Board Director of the Chinese technology giant Huawei, attends a session of the VTB Capital Investment Forum "Russia Calling!" in Moscow, Russia October 2, 2014. Picture taken October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Alexander Bibik

VANCOUVER, BC - DECEMBER 07: People wait in line to attend the bail hearing of Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on December 7, 2018 in Vancouver, Canada. Wanzhou was detained by border officials in Vancouver December 1 while changing flights on route to Mexico. Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

Sabrina Meng Wanzhou's mansion on Matthews Avenue, Vancouver, is worth US$16.3 million. It is undergoing extensive renovations and appears to be vacant. Photo: Ian Young

Sabrina Meng Wanzhou's home on West 28th Avenue, Vancouver, is worth C$5.6 million.  Photo: Ian Young

Huawei CFO Sabrina Meng Wanzhou and her two Vancouver homes, which are in the name of husband Liu Xiaozong. The homes in the expensive neighbourhoods of Shaughnessy (top right) and Dunbar (bottom right) are worth C$16.3 million and C$5.6 million respectively. Photos: Ian Young and Huawei handout

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Protesters at Meng Wanzhou’s latest Vancouver court appearance called for the release of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who are held by China
The demonstrators included Yang Kuang, well known in Hong Kong for his activism, and now living as a refugee in Canada



Protesters at Meng Wanzhou’s latest Vancouver court appearance called for the release of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who are held by China.


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Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


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The Hongcouver

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}The Hongcouver | Yang Kuang burned a Chinese flag outside Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou’s court hearing in Vancouver – here’s why

The Hongcouver | Yang Kuang burned a Chinese flag outside Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou’s court hearing in Vancouver – here’s why