Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou’s bank fraud charges to be dismissed, ending fraught chapter in US-China tech war
- With no information that Meng violated a deal struck with US prosecutors in 2021, the US has moved to dismiss the case as agreed
- The move, which was expected, ends a four-year saga that strained relations between the US and China
With no information that Meng violated the deal, “the government respectfully moves to dismiss the third superseding indictment in this case as to defendant Wanzhou Meng”, Brooklyn US Attorney Carolyn Pokorny wrote in a December 1 letter to US District Judge Ann Donnelly.
Huawei, a telecommunications equipment maker the US views as a national security threat, is still charged in the case, which is pending in a US District Court in Brooklyn, New York. No trial date has yet been set, and a status conference is scheduled for Feb. 7th.
While Thursday’s move was expected, it closes a chapter on a particularly fraught phase of US-China relations that also thrust Canada into the middle of a broader clash between the two superpowers.
Meng had been accused of bank fraud and other crimes for misleading global bank HSBC Holdings Plc about the company’s business in Iran to obtain banking services in violation of US sanctions.