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 By Laurent THOMET, Laurent Thomet, with Delphine Touitou in Washington Beijing (AFP) Dec 9, 2018
China summoned the US ambassador on Sunday to protest the arrest of a top executive from telecom giant Huawei in Canada, as Washington's top trade negotiator rejected suggestions that the case could affect talks aimed at settling a trade war. The arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou has infuriated Beijing, which demanded Washington drop its extradition request, and stoked tensions during the trade war truce between China and the United States. Meng faces US fraud charges related to alleged sanctions-breaking dealings with Iran. But with negotiations underway against a "hard deadline" of March 1 to settle the tariff dispute between the world's two biggest economies, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said he did not expect the arrest to disrupt the talks. Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, is in custody awaiting a Canadian court's decision on bail on Monday. Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng summoned US ambassador Terry Branstad one day after he called in Canadian envoy John McCallum to voice China's displeasure. "Le Yucheng pointed out that the US side has seriously violated the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens, and the nature of the violation is extremely bad," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "The Chinese side firmly opposes this and strongly urges the United States to attach great importance to China's solemn and just position," it said. China also urged the United States to "take immediate measures to correct wrong practices, and revoke the arrest warrant against the Chinese citizen." The statement warned that Beijing would make an unspecified "further response" in light of the US actions. - Lengthy extradition process - In a case which shook investors and rattled the markets, Meng was arrested in Vancouver while changing planes on December 1, the same day that US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to a truce in their trade battle and gave negotiators three months to find a compromise. Although Trump last week tweeted that the talks would end after 90 days "unless extended," Lighthizer said on Sunday that March 1 is a firm deadline. "When I talked to the president of the United States he's not talking about going beyond March," Lighthizer said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "If there is a deal to be gotten, we want to get it in the next 90 days." He also said that Meng's arrest "shouldn't really have much of an impact" on the talks, although he conceded that the Chinese might see it that way. "For us, it's unrelated" to trade policy matters. "It's criminal justice." Separately, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow denied reports that Trump was "livid" that the arrest of Meng occurred while Trump dined with Xi. "He didn't know," Kudlow told "Fox News Sunday." "He learned way later." The world's top two economies have exchanged steep tariffs on more than $300 billion in total two-way trade, locking them in a conflict that has begun to eat into profits. Since taking office, Trump has waged an often-fierce offensive against Chinese trade practices, which he regularly brands as "unfair." He sees the US trade deficit with China as a particular sore point, and the imbalance ballooned to a record $35.6 billion in November, official data showed on Saturday. Analysts say Meng could become a bargaining chip in the negotiations. In a bail hearing that was adjourned on Friday, Canadian Crown prosecutor John Gibb-Carsley asked for bail to be denied, saying Meng has been accused of "conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions." He said if convicted, she faces more than 30 years in prison. The extradition process could take months, even years, if appeals are made in the case. Canada has a long-standing extradition treaty with the United States, requiring it to cooperate with US Department of Justice requests to hand over suspects. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said politics played no part in the decision to arrest Meng. Huawei said Friday that it would "continue to follow the bail hearing", expressing "every confidence that the Canadian and US legal systems will reach the right conclusion." Huawei has denied any ties to the Chinese government, but many in Washington and other Western capitals are sceptical and have raised security concerns. US federal law already bans military and government use of devices made by Huawei and fellow Chinese firm ZTE. Influential Republican Senator Marco Rubio told "Face the Nation" that he plans to reintroduce legislation that would ban companies like Huawei from doing business in the US because they "pose a threat to our national interests."
China summons Canada envoy over detained Huawei exec: state media Meng Wanzhou has been held since December 1 in Canada on an American extradition request and faces US fraud charges related to sanctions-breaking business dealings with Iran. The 46-year-old executive was arrested in Vancouver while changing planes, ratcheting up tensions between the US and China just as the countries' leaders agreed to a truce in their trade war. In a statement cited by official news agency Xinhua, China's Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said Meng's detention was a "severe violation" of her rights and interests as a Chinese citizen. "Such a move ignores the law and is unreasonable, unconscionable, and vile in nature," the news agency quoted Le as saying in the statement. Le summoned Canadian ambassador John McCallum in protest and urged Ottawa to release Meng immediately or face "grave consequences that the Canadian side should be held accountable for", Xinhua said. Meng -- the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, a former engineer in China's People's Liberation Army -- is set to remain in custody until at least Monday, when a Canadian court is expected to decide on bail. In a hearing that was adjourned on Friday, Canadian government lawyer John Gibb-Carsley asked for bail to be denied, saying Meng has been accused of "conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions." He said if convicted, she faces more than 30 years in prison. Meng is specifically accused of lying to a US bank, identified by her lawyer as "Hong Kong Bank", about the use of a covert subsidiary to sell to Iran in breach of sanctions. - Extradition treaty - The extradition process could take months, even years, if appeals are made in the case. Canada has a long-standing extradition treaty with the United States, requiring it to cooperate with US Department of Justice requests to hand over suspects. The offence for which extradition is being sought must also be a crime in Canada, and a Canadian court must decide if there is sufficient evidence to support the extradition. On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended Canada's arrest of Meng, saying politics played no part in the decision. A spokesman for Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told AFP on Saturday that Ottawa had no further comment on the case. Huawei said Friday that it would "continue to follow the bail hearing", expressing "every confidence that the Canadian and US legal systems will reach the right conclusion". Meng's detention in Canada came on the day of a summit between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, at which they agreed to a truce in their tit-for-tat tariff battle. The world's top two economies have exchanged steep tariffs on more than $300 billion in total two-way trade, locking them in a conflict that has begun to eat into profits.
Under fire Huawei agrees to UK security demands London (AFP) Dec 7, 2018 Embattled Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has agreed to British intelligence demands over its equipment and software as it seeks to be part of the country's 5G network plans, the FT reported Friday. Huawei executives met senior officials from Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), where they accepted a range of technical requirements to ease security fears, according to the FT's sources. The NCSC said in a statement that it was "committed to the security of UK networks, and we have a re ... read more
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