On Friday, the Canadian Ministry of Justice officially began the process of extraditing to the United States (USA) the financial director of the telecommunications company Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested on December 1 in Vancouver at the American request.
A month after the US Justice Department announced a long list of indictments against Huawei and Meng, officials from the Canadian Department of Justice issued a court order that officially begins the extradition process, the Government of Canada announced, reports SEEbiz.
The US Department of Justice accuses Huawei and its financial director of circumventing US sanctions on Iran, but also of stealing the industrial secret of the US telecommunications company T-Mobile through two subsidiaries.
Lawyers representing Meng assessed that the American accusations were politically motivated.
"Our client maintains that she is innocent and that the US court process and extradition is an abuse of due process," the lawyers said.
The Canadian government rejected China's request for Meng's release and added that it had no effect on the judiciary.
"The Chinese side is completely dissatisfied and firmly opposes the process," the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa announced after the extradition process was launched.
The arrest of Meng has caused an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between Ottawa and Beijing, which sees it as an attempt to destroy its largest telecommunications company, although Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has claimed from the beginning that there was never "political intervention" and that Canada is a "rule of law".
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is questioning the independence of Canada's judiciary in light of recently published allegations that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government tried to intervene in a corruption trial.
Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on December 1 and released on bond in mid-December in Vancouver, where she owns two residences.
Relations between China and Canada cooled after her arrest.
China has arrested two Canadian citizens and sentenced a third to death for drug smuggling.
Bonus video:
