A Canadian court has begun hearing the case of a senior Huawei executive fighting extradition to the United States.<\/p>\n
Meng Wanzhou, 47, made no comment as she arrived at a Vancouver courthouse on Monday for a scheduled hearing.<\/p>\n
The US wants Ms Meng to stand trial on charges including fraud linked to the alleged violation of US sanctions against Iran.<\/p>\n
Ms Meng, who was arrested in late 2018 in Canada, denies any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
The case involving Huawei’s chief financial officer is being closely watched in Canada, the US and China.<\/p>\n
Her arrest has created a rift between China and Canada. On Monday, Beijing repeated its calls for Canada to release Ms Meng.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Chinese telecoms giant said it stood by its executive “in her pursuit of justice and freedom”.<\/p>\n
In a video statement released on its social media platforms as the hearing got underway, Huawei said it trusted in Canada’s judicial system “which will prove Ms Meng’s innocence”.<\/p>\n
Huawei’s chief security officer has told the BBC the firm’s chief financial officer is “irreplaceable”.<\/p>\n
But the chief security officer, Andy Purdy, told the BBC that – although Ms Meng was crucial to the firm – there was a “succession plan” in place.<\/p>\n
Prior to her arrest, Ms Meng was a key figure in the Huawei’s 5G efforts.<\/p>\n
The latest iteration of high-speed wireless technology, known as 5G, will increase mobile connectivity and data speeds around the world.<\/p>\n
The start of her hearing comes as Huawei battles US efforts to block it from participating in the development of 5G.<\/p>\n
The US has labelled the company a security risk and banned the sale of its products. US politicians are also pushing allies including the UK, Germany and South Korea to block Huawei from their markets.<\/p>\n
This first phase of hearings is scheduled to run from 20-24 January in the British Columbia supreme court in Vancouver.<\/p>\n
The court will hear arguments on whether the crime Ms Meng is accused of by the US would also be considered a crime in Canada.<\/p>\n
The judge must be satisfied that it meets the so-called “double criminality” test before agreeing to an extradition.<\/p>\n
Her lead defence lawyer, Richard Peck, argued in court on Monday that Canada is effectively being asked “to enforce US sanctions”.<\/p>\n
“Sanctions drive this case,” he said.<\/p>\n
“This case is founded on allegations of breach of US sanctions, which Canada has repudiated. The US has cast (Ms Meng’s) alleged behaviour as a fraud against a bank. This is an artifice.”<\/p>\n
Canada’s justice department has said it will justify extradition by arguing US accusations against Ms Meng would be considered a crime in Canada if they had occurred there.<\/p>\n
Ms Meng is the chief financial officer of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei and daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei.<\/p>\n
She has been out on bail but under house arrest in Vancouver, where she owns property, since shortly after she was detained in December 2018.<\/p>\n
Not long after her arrest, China detained two Canadian nationals – Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat, and Michael Spavor, a businessman – and has accused the pair of espionage.<\/p>\n
The move by Beijing is widely viewed as “hostage diplomacy” – a tactic to put pressure on Canada to release the Huawei executive. Their detention has been called “arbitrary” by Canada and its allies.<\/p>\n
Ms Meng’s arrest also led to a trade row between Canada and China, with China blocking tens of millions of dollars of canola exports.<\/p>\n
China says the case is political persecution by the US.<\/p>\n
Washington has been lobbying its allies – including the UK – to not use Huawei’s 5G technology services in critical communications infrastructure, alleging it could be a security threat.<\/p>\n
If a judge is satisfied with the evidence presented, he or she will authorise that the individual be committed for extradition.<\/p>\n
If not, the accused will be discharged and released from custody.<\/p>\n
Even if the judge recommends extradition, it is the federal justice minister who makes the ultimate decision.<\/p>\n
A second scheduled hearing, focusing on allegations of abuse of process and whether Canadian officials followed the law while arresting Ms Meng, is due to be heard in June.<\/p>\n
It is highly likely the overall process could be lengthy. Ms Meng has avenues to appeal throughout the process and some extradition cases have dragged on for years.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"