Huawei CFO seeks bail on health concerns; Canada wants her in jail

Toronto/Beijing: A top executive of China`s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd argued that she should be released on bail while awaiting an extradition hearing, citing fears for her health while incarcerated in Canada along with other factors, court documents showed.

Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou is fighting to be released on bail after she was arrested on December 1 in Vancouver at the request of the United States.

Meng, 46, faces U.S. accusations that she misled multinational banks about Huawei`s control of a company operating in Iran. This deception put the banks at risk of violating U.S. sanctions and incurring severe penalties, court documents said.

China has criticized her detention and demanded her immediate release. The arrest has roiled global markets as investors worried it could torpedo attempts to thaw trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

In a sworn affidavit, Meng, the daughter of Huawei`s founder, said she is innocent of the allegations and will contest them at trial in the United States if she is surrendered there.

Meng said she was taken to a hospital for treatment for hypertension after being detained. She cited hypertension as a factor in a bail application seeking her release pending an extradition hearing. She also said she has longstanding ties to Vancouver dating back at least 15 years, as well as significant property holdings in the city.

Her family also sought leave to remain in Vancouver if she was granted bail, according to the court documents, with her husband saying he plans to bring the couple`s daughter to Vancouver to attend school during the proceedings.

Earlier on Sunday, China`s foreign ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador to lodge a “strong protest” over the arrest, and said the United States should withdraw its arrest warrant.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng told U.S. ambassador Terry Branstad that the United States had made an “unreasonable demand” on Canada to detain Meng while she was passing through Vancouver, China`s Foreign Ministry said.

“The actions of the U.S. seriously violated the lawful and legitimate rights of the Chinese citizen, and by their nature were extremely nasty,” Le told Branstad. He made similar comments to Canada`s ambassador the night before.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)