Huawei’s CFO: Canada denies acting improperly in arresting Meng

The case has become an issue in ongoing trade war between China and United States.

Meng Wanzhou Huawei CFO
Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou appeared for a hearing at a British Columbia supreme court on Monday [Lindsey Wasson/Reuters]

There is no evidence Canadian border officials or police acted improperly when Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested and held at Vancouver’s airport nearly 10 months ago, the legal team for the attorney general of Canada said in a filing.

The filing was made public on Monday as Meng and her lawyers were in British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver arguing for additional disclosure surrounding the arrest. The defence claims Meng was unlawfully searched and questioned under the ruse of an immigration check and wants to halt extradition proceedings.

The attorney general has said in the submission that it has already made extensive disclosure to Meng in the extradition proceedings that has substantially, if not entirely, provided Meng with all non-privileged materials that Meng is seeking in the disclosure application.

Meng, 47, was arrested at Vancouver’s airport on December 1 at the request of the United States, where she is charged with bank fraud and accused of misleading HSBC Holdings Plc about Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s business in Iran. She has said she is innocent and is fighting extradition.

An extradition hearing itself is not scheduled to start until January, but the two sides are already in court.

“There is no evidence that the conduct of officials, either Canadian or foreign, has compromised the fairness of the extradition proceedings,” Canada’s attorney general said in the filing. “No purpose would be served in providing further disclosure.”

The arrest has strained China‘s relations with both the US and Canada.

At Monday’s hearing before Justice Heather Holmes of the British Columbia Supreme Court, Meng’s lawyer Richard Peck said the Canadian border agency and police delayed implementing Meng’s rights, and gave the border agency an opportunity to interrogate her, with plans to share the information with the Canadian police and the FBI.

“We refer to this as a ‘covert criminal investigation’ under the pretext of an admissibility examination for immigration purposes,” Peck said.

The attorney general of Canada said in the submission that the border officers acted in accordance with “lawful authority to determine whether the applicant and her goods were admissible to Canada.”

Meng arrived at the Vancouver court on Monday in a burned orange coat and wearing an electronic monitor on her left ankle above silver glittering shoes. She sat in the well of the courtroom next to an interpreter, wearing a long purple dress, with her hair pulled back with a black velvet bow.

‘Unlawful detention’

Meng’s lawyers have said in court papers that she was unlawfully arrested, searched and questioned for over three hours after she landed on a flight from Hong Kong. Under the ruse of an immigration check, they claim Canadian officials collected evidence for US authorities.

Extradition proceedings against Meng should be halted if officials abused the process, the lawyers say. Besides accusations of misconduct related to her detention, they argue the US is using Meng for economic and political gain, noting that after her arrest, US President Donald Trump said he would intervene if it would help close a trade deal.

Vancouver lawyer Gary Botting, who has seen a video of Meng being held at the airport, said immigration officials came across as “Keystone Cops”.

“There are real questions about whether her rights were violated,” said Botting, who briefed Meng’s defence team on Canada’s extradition law after her arrest but is no longer involved with the case.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, spent 10 days in jail in December but was then released on 10 million Canadian dollars ($7.5m) bail and is living in one of her two multimillion-dollar homes in Vancouver. She is required to wear an electronic ankle bracelet and to pay for security guards.

Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, has been accused by the US of activities contrary to national security or foreign policy interests.

US and Chinese officials resumed trade talks last week, as the world’s two largest economies try to negotiate a way out of their 14-month trade war.

Source: Reuters