B.C. trade mission to China suspended due to ongoing Huawei fraud case
The B.C. government is suspending a trade mission to China due to an ongoing court case against a senior Huawei executive arrested earlier this month in Vancouver.
The B.C. government is suspending a trade mission to China due to an ongoing court case against a senior Huawei executive arrested earlier this month in Vancouver.
Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of the China-based Huawei Technologies, was arrested Dec. 1 at Vancouver International Airport while en route to Mexico and is being sought for extradition to the U.S. on allegations of fraud.
It’s alleged the Chinese tech giant used a subsidiary named Skycom to conduct business with an Iranian telecommunications company, a violation of U.S. sanctions against trade with Iran. Meng is accused of misrepresenting Huawei’s connection with Skycom to several banks involved in the case, leading to one bank clearing more than $100 million dollars worth of transactions.
In a statement shared Sunday, B.C. Minister of Trade Bruce Ralston said a number of upcoming meetings in China would be rescheduled. The meetings were a part of an ongoing trade mission in Asia.
“The Province of British Columbia has suspended the China leg of its Asian forestry trade mission due to the international judicial process underway relating to a senior official at Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.,” read the statement.
“British Columbia values its strong trade relationship with China, one based on mutual respect and close economic and cultural ties that have been established over many decades. Our forest products industry remains committed to our relationship with our valued Chinese customers.”
The mission was being led by Minister of Forests Doug Donaldson and included a number of industry representatives. The team has already completed a series of meetings in South Korea and will wrap up its schedule meetings in Japan on Tuesday after which the trade delegation will return to Canada.
The cancelled Chinese meetings will be rescheduled “at the earliest convenient moment,” according to Ralston’s statement.
Meng, whose father is the founder of the company, returns to court on Monday to continue seeking bail. She was arrested using a provisional arrest warrant issued by a New York state judge in August.
A federal Justice Department lawyer had argued that Meng’s vast resources and lack of meaningful connection to Canada made her a flight risk, while Meng’s defence lawyer said she would do no such thing to prevent humiliation to her family.
Some commentators have likened Meng’s arrest to the hypothetical detention in China of a Mark Zuckerberg sibling or a cousin of Steve Jobs, with one even describing Meng as being an Ivanka Trump-like figure in her father’s company.
