China while reiterating its stand, has asked the newly-elected Canadian government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to release Meng Wanzhou, Chief Financial Officer and deputy chairwoman of the board, of telecom giant Huawei. Geng Shuang, spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry in a press statement asked the Canadian government to release the executive immediately.
The detained executive is the daughter of the founder and CEO of Huawei, Ren Zengfei. She was arrested by the Canadian government and is under detention in Vancouver since December last year. The 47-year-old business executive has been charged in the US with a bank fraud and accused of misleading HSBC Holdings about her company's business in Iran. Since assuming office, President Donald Trump has pulled the U.S. out of the multi-member Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) commonly called the Iran Nuclear Deal and has reimposed sanctions on the gulf nation. USA pulled out from the deal meant to restrict Iran's nuclear programme, claiming that the deal is insufficient to make sure that Iran complies with. It has also accused Iran of supporting militias that USA fights in the middle-east.
Wanzhou has claimed her innocence and the Chinese embassy in Canada had protested her arrest. When she was taken in China had accused Canada of arresting her at USA's request and not due to the company's violation of any American or Canadian laws. Various U.S. lawmakers have accused Huawei of posing a national security threat by arguing that the technology could be used for spying by the Chinese government. The company's services have been blocked in countries such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Her arrest and detention came amid the US-China trade war in which both countries imposed tariffs on billions of dollars worth of other country's exports.
