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After Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who had been in detention in Canada since December 2018 left for China as a part of a affect U.S., China released two Canadians who were in prison for nearly 3 years.
Huawei’s chief treasurer (CFO) Meng Wanzhou, who had been in detention in Canada since December 2018, left the country for China on Friday after a judge discharged her during a case for extradition to the us following the American department of justice agreeing to a affect her.
In a day of fast-changing developments, hours later there was a quid pro quo settlement as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that two Canadians, including a former diplomat, who were detained in China and charged with espionage following Meng Wanzhou’s arrest in Canada, had been released and were on their way back to Canada.
The day started with Meng, daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, making a virtual appearance before a administrative district court in Brooklyn, New York. The US Department of Justice during a statement said she had “entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) and was arraigned on charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud and wire fraud”.
Acting US assistant attorney general Mark Lesko for the justice department’s National Security Division said the DPA would be “end of the continued extradition proceedings in Canada, which otherwise could have continued for several months, if not years”. Under the plea deal, Meng Wanzhou agreed to a press release that constituted an admission of deceiving a financial organization in an attempt to bypass sanctions imposed by the US on the regime in China. “In getting into the deferred prosecution agreement, Meng has taken responsibility for her principal role in perpetrating a scheme to defraud a worldwide financial organization ,” said acting US attorney Nicole Boeckmann for the eastern district of latest York.
By the afternoon, British Columbia Supreme Court associate judge Heather Holmes discharged the extradition proceedings against Meng Wanzhou, CFO of the Chinese telecommunications company.
“Sorry for the inconvenience caused,” Meng Wanzhou told reporters outside the Vancouver court after the case was dropped. While she said the long-running case had been “disruptive” for her personally, Meng Wanzhou expressed her appreciation of the court “for their professionalism and therefore the Canadian government for upholding the rule of law.”
Canada’s department of justice thereafter stated she was “free to leave” the country.
Within hours, she was aboard a special Air China flight that left Canada for the Chinese city of Shenzhen.
Late on Friday evening, Justin Trudeau announced that the 2 Canadians imprisoned in China, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were on board a flight from China and returning to Canada. Addressing the media in Ottawa, he said, “These two men have skilled an unbelievably difficult ordeal. For the past 1,000 days, they need shown strength, perseverance, resilience and beauty .”
On August 11, businessman Spavor was sentenced to 11 years in prison by a Chinese court on charges associated with spying.
The case involving Meng Wanzhou and therefore the two Michaels had led to a rapid schism in relations between Ottawa and China with Trudeau describing China’s actions in arresting the 2 Michaels as “hostage diplomacy”.
Interestingly, after becoming PM for a 3rd term following national elections on Monday, Trudeau had a telephonic conversation with US President Joe Biden where the fate of the 2 Michaels was among the themes discussed.
In what seemed to be an exchange of prisoners, the flight carrying the 2 Michaels left China at almost precisely the same time because the one with Meng Wanzhou aboard departed Vancouver.“It’s excellent news for all folks that they’re on their way home to their families,” Trudeau said. He made the announcement after their flight had left Chinese airspace
China has denied Canadian charges that they were “arbitrarily detained” as an act of “coercive diplomacy”, but the sequence of events on Friday evening will buttress Ottawa’s argument.
