The federal government has been quietly strengthening commercial and military relations with the Indo-Pacific allies, but foreign policy experts believe Ottawa’s reluctance to give a more comprehensive strategy in the region stems from concerns about upsetting China. Meng Wanzhou, a Chinese telecoms executive, was released from house arrest in Canada after reaching an agreement with the US Justice Department to drop the fraud allegations against her that have strained Beijing’s ties with Washington and Ottawa.
Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s top financial officer and the company’s founder’s daughter, was granted bail in a Vancouver court hearing, just hours after US prosecutors revealed a deal in New York. She then swiftly boarded a flight to Shenzhen, returning to China for the first time since being apprehended at the request of US authorities in Vancouver’s international airport in 2018. Since then, she has been under house arrest, with a private security company monitoring her, as part of her bail deal.
Also read: Trump’s final blow to China – Huawei is banned in the US forever
While Meng’s case will be postponed until December of next year, after which it would be dismissed totally if she meets her responsibilities, the way in which she has been sent back to China goes on to show how Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau have kneeled before Xi Jinping. One of those responsibilities was to not contradict a statement of facts she signed as part of the bargain while retaining her ‘not guilty’ plea or to pretend that she signed it inadvertently. The US Department of Justice will subsequently drop its extradition proceedings against her, and her lawyer, David Kessler, has requested that she be released on bail.
Trudeau’s love for China
Canada has just been called a ‘running dog of the United States’ by China. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been called a mere ‘boy’ by China. Yet, Canada still seems to be lacking the gumption and spine to take on an undiplomatic, rowdy and bullish China. China’s consul general to Rio de Janeiro, Li Yang, derided Trudeau in a tweet, late March, blaming him for ruining friendly relations between the two countries. In the tweet, he said, “Boy, your greatest achievement is to have ruined the friendly relations between China and Canada, and have turned Canada into a running dog of the US.”
Boy, your greatest achievement is to have ruined the friendly relations between China and Canada, and have turned Canada into a running dog of the US. Spendthrift!!! pic.twitter.com/qWCfJH4bYb
— Li Yang (@Li_Yang_China) March 28, 2021
The derogatory remarks by China, which were most definitely not made by Li Yang on his own accord and had the tacit approval of political higher-ups within the Chinese Communist Party, have once again proven how Canada is sitting fodder for China to walk all over. Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau particularly, Canada has come to be known by the Chinese as a sheepish country with no self-dignity, which is why it keeps taking repeated insults by the paper dragon lying down.
The latest turn of events
“We look forward to seeing Ms Meng Wanzhou return home safely to be reunited with her family,” Huawei Technologies said in a statement. Huawei will continue to defend itself in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York against the allegations.” The complete deal was not made public during the court session right away. Meng Wanzhou was charged with bank and wire fraud for allegedly misrepresenting Huawei’s activity in Iran to the HSBC bank.
Meng Wanzhou and Huawei were involved to a conspiracy to sell computer equipment to Iran in violation of sanctions, according to Reuters news stories from 2012 and 2013, which were used in the US case against her. In 2008, the US filed a secret order for Meng’s arrest, and Canadian authorities were urged to detain her when she arrived at Vancouver airport on December 1, 2019.
The agreement, which recommended her release, permitted her to formally deny guilt on major accusations while yet recognising the Americans’ assertions. Later that day, Canadian prosecutors told a Vancouver judge that they had abandoned their efforts to extradite her to the United States and that she should be released from custody.
For nearly three years, she had been under house arrest in her multimillion-dollar Vancouver mansion. Ms Meng Wanzhou was spotted entering the facility with Chinese consulate officers ahead of her court hearing. She was eventually let free by the judge.
