violated Meng’s rights while collecting evidence
before she was actually arrested.
Beijing views Meng’s case as an attempt to
contain China’s rise. Huawei represents China’s
progress in becoming a technological power
and has been a subject of U.S. security concerns
for years.
Meng denies the U.S. allegations. The U.S.
Department of Justice has stressed that Meng’s
case is separate from the wider China-U.S.
trade dispute.
Huawei is the biggest global supplier of
network gear for cellphone and internet
companies. Washington is pressuring other
countries to limit use of its technology, warning
they could be opening themselves up to
surveillance and theft.
China and the U.S. reached a “Phase 1” trade
agreement last week, but most analysts say any
meaningful resolution of the main U.S. allegation
— that Beijing uses predatory tactics in its drive
to supplant America’s technological supremacy
— could require years of contentious talks.
In apparent retaliation for Meng’s arrest, China
detained former Canadian diplomat Michael
Kovrig and Canadian entrepreneur Michael
Spavor. The two men have been denied access
to lawyers and family and are being held in
prison cells where the lights are kept on 24
hours a day.
China has also placed restrictions on various
Canadian exports to China, including canola oil
seed and meat. Last January, China also handed
a death sentence to a convicted Canadian drug
smuggler in a sudden retrial.