Sino File | Sabrina Meng Wanzhou’s arrest is just a taste of the US-China battle to come

As the Western Five Eyes intelligence services ramp up their war on China’s 5G giants Huawei and ZTE, Asian countries will be forced into unpalatable choices

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Huawei chief financial officer Sabrina Meng Wanzhou. Photo: AP

Published: 9:33am, 23 Dec 2018Updated: 9:32am, 23 Dec 2018

The United States and Canada are countries in which there is a clear-cut division of power between the three branches of government – the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary.

They are countries in which the judicial system operates independently from any political interference and where all court cases, including ones with international dimensions, are dealt with in strict compliance with laws and conventions.

Or so legend has it. In fact, the recent incarceration and the subsequent bail hearing of Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, makes it seem that politics does play a role in the two countries’ judicial affairs, coming as it does amid a spiralling trade war and escalating tensions between the United States and China.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei and the heir apparent of the Chinese telecoms giant, was arrested by Canadian authorities at the request of the American government on suspicion of fraud related to Washington’s sanctions on Iran.

Beijing, for certain, sees Meng’s arrest as politically inspired. It has responded with tough political and diplomatic actions, unsurprisingly given Huawei is seen as the pride of China and a symbol of the country’s rise.

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