The bail hearing for a top executive of China’s Huawei Technologies resumed in Vancouver on Monday, the next step in a case that has spooked international financial markets and threatened to damage the delicate trade relationship between the United States and China.
Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer and daughter of its founder, was arrested in Vancouver on suspicion of fraud involving violations of U.S. sanctions in Iran on Dec. 1. American prosecutors are fighting for her extradition.
Canadian prosecutors argued against granting Meng, 46, bail during her first court appearance in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday. The businesswoman’s lawyer insisted otherwise, saying she should be freed on bail due to her strong ties to Vancouver and fears for her health while incarcerated in Canada.
Electronic surveillance proposed
Meng entered the packed courtroom on Monday in downtown Vancouver wearing a green prison sweatsuit, her husband sitting in the front row near the glass prison enclosure.
Meng’s lawyer David Martin introduced two witnesses to testify about surveillance and electronic monitoring, arguing that private security would have the ability to take her into custody should she break the terms of her bail conditions. He said Meng would also cover the costs of that monitoring.
Lions Gate Risk Management Group chief executive Scott Filer, a former RCMP staff sergeant, testified that Meng would carry tracking equipment and wear a body tracking device to indicate her whereabouts.
Filer said he’s visited Meng’s home at 28th Avenue and Crown Street on Vancouver’s west side, and that it would be an appropriate place for a person out on bail to reside.
The security team proposed for Meng would include a former RCMP officer previously responsible for all emergency response teams in B.C.
Wanzhou is shown with a translator during a bail hearing in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Friday. The hearing continues today. (Jane Wolsak/Canadian Press)
Arrest ‘extremely egregious’: Chinese official
Meng allegedly used an unofficial company called Skycom to access the Iranian market between 2009 and 2014 — dealings that would be in violation of U.S. sanctions.
It’s also alleged Meng and other Huawei executives found out about U.S. criminal investigations into the company’s practices and began to alter travel patterns to avoid American authorities during or around 2017.
Multiple fraud charges against her each carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
Members of the media wait outside B.C. Supreme Court as Wanzhou’s bail hearing is held inside. Photography and videography are forbidden inside the courthouse. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)
Meng was en route from Hong Kong to Mexico when she was arrested while changing planes at Vancouver International Airport.
Her ongoing detention has stoked trade tensions between the United States and China.
China’s leaders have lashed out against Meng’s arrest and called for her immediate release. One top government official called the detention “extremely egregious,” according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng summoned Canadian Ambassador John McCallum on Saturday and American Ambassador Terry Branstad on Sunday. He demanded that the U.S. vacate the arrest warrant, and warned McCallum of “grave consequences” if Meng is not released.
Asked Monday what those steps might be, foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said only that it “totally depends on the Canadian side itself.”
B.C. drops China leg of trade mission
The proceedings have already upset trade relations between Canada and China — on Sunday, the B.C. government said it would be “rescheduling” the China leg of its Asian forestry trade mission over the “international judicial process” relating to Meng’s arrest.
Bruce Ralston, B.C.’s minister of jobs, trade and technology, said the government “values its strong trade relationship with China, one based on mutual respect and close economic and cultural ties that have been established over many decades.”
Ralston said his government will try to reschedule the talks.
Meng’s links to Vancouver
In a bail application, Meng said she has longstanding ties to Vancouver dating back at least 15 years as well as two homes in the city.
Vancouver police are investigating an alleged break-in at one of those homes on Sunday morning.
Court documents reveal that Meng was once a permanent resident of Canada and show pictures of Canadian government-issued identification, including her social insurance number and B.C. ID. She relinquished her residency nearly a decade ago.
In a sworn affadavit, Meng said she is innocent and will contest allegations against her at trial in the United States, if she is surrendered there.
Huawei is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of network gear for phone and internet companies. Meng’s father, Ren Zhengfei, is the company’s founder and CEO.