Meng Wanzhou: Trump could intervene in case of Huawei executive

image copyrightReuters
image captionMeng Wanzhou has said she will contest allegations of fraud


"Whatever's good for this country, I would do," the US president said.




She is the daughter of Huawei's founder and her detention, which comes amid an increasingly acrimonious trade dispute between Washington and Beijing, has angered China and soured its relations with both Canada and the US.


"If I think it's good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made - which is a very important thing - what's good for national security, I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary," he said.

A Canadian official, speaking on background on Wednesday, told journalists that it would be difficult this early in the proceedings to evaluate whether Mr Trump's comment could have an impact on the extradition case.

But he said that "it is certainly something that Ms Meng's counsel could raise".

Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told journalists in Ottawa that parties seeking extradition from Canada should ensure the process is not politicised.

What happened in the courtroom?




In the three-day bail hearing in Vancouver, Ms Meng's lawyers sought to provide guarantees that she would not pose a flight risk if released. The application was opposed by Canadian prosecutors.

image copyrightAFP
image captionSupporters of Ms Meng gathered outside the court in Vancouver



The judge ordered her to reappear in court on 6 February.

After the ruling, Huawei issued a statement, saying: "We have every confidence that the Canadian and US legal systems will reach a just conclusion."

How has China reacted to Ms Meng's arrest?


Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng earlier summoned both the US and Canadian ambassadors and lodged a "strong protest" urging her release.

The ministry described Ms Meng's arrest as "extremely nasty".

image copyrightEPA
image captionMs Meng is chief financial officer of Huawei, the world's second-biggest smartphone maker





Canadian officials said there was no "explicit indication" of any link between Mr Kovrig's reported detention and the arrest of Ms Meng.

What happens next?

Under Canadian law, the federal justice minister has 30 days after receiving a formal request from the US to decide whether to allow an extradition hearing to proceed in court.

If a judge is satisfied with the evidence presented during the hearing, he or she will authorise the individual be committed for extradition. The justice minister then decides whether to surrender them to the US.

Ms Meng does have avenues to appeal.

She can appeal both the court decision and seek a judicial review of the minister's decision.

If the appellate court upholds either decision, an individual may still seek leave to appeal to Canada's Supreme Court.

In some rare instances, extradition cases have dragged on for over a decade.

In a statement, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said she takes her "extradition responsibilities and obligations very seriously".

Canadian officials say they will "faithfully follow the rule of law" in this case.

Who is Meng Wanzhou?

Meng Wanzhou joined Huawei as early as 1993, when she began a career at her father's company as a receptionist.

After she graduated with a master's degree in accountancy from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 1999, she joined the finance department of Huawei.

She became the company's chief finance officer in 2011 and was promoted to vice-chair a few months before her arrest.

Ms Meng's links to her father, Ren Zhengfei, were not public knowledge until a few years ago.

In a practice highly unusual in Chinese tradition, she adopted her family name not from her father but her mother, Meng Jun, who was Mr Ren's first wife.

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