Huawei finance chief Meng Wanzhou thanks employees in rare comments since Vancouver arrest
- Meng appeared in court in Vancouver on May 8, 2019, seeking to get her US extradition case thrown out
- Meng is allowed to travel throughout the city but must wear a GPS tracker and abide by an 11pm curfew
Huawei Technologies’ CFO Meng Wanzhou, currently under house arrest in Canada pending an extradition hearing, has thanked all of the telecom giant’s 188,000 employees for their continued support during the difficult times she has faced in her first public comments since being detained.
“Over the past few months, many Huawei people – whether I know them or not – have continued to care about my safety silently and left messages for me via the [Huawei online] community, and this has blessed and cheered me up, touching my heart in an indescribable way,” Meng said in an open letter to all Huawei employees dated May 9 and shared publicly by the company on its official WeChat account on Monday.
“Your concerns let me read the warmth; your support makes me feel the power. I believe that with every step I now take, I am surrounded by 188,000 Huawei people,” Meng wrote, adding that this power can unite and strengthen Huawei’s “will”.
Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei, is accused by US authorities of defrauding HSBC bankers by painting a false picture of Huawei’s alleged operations in Iran, in breach of US sanctions.
She was arrested at the request of American authorities in Canada as she changed planes on her way from Hong Kong to Mexico on December 1 2018. Apart from a private WeChat post on December 12, these are Meng’s first public comments.
Meng appeared in court in Vancouver on May 8, 2019, seeking to get her US extradition case thrown out. Her lawyers blasted her arrest as “unlawful” during the court session, arguing that US President Donald Trump’s suggestion about “intervening in the case if it would help forge a trade deal with China” is a violation of the judicial process.