Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the founder of Chinese telecoms giant, Huawei, has been arrested in Canada and faces extradition to the United States.
Meng Wanzhou, who is Huawei’s chief financial officer was arrested in Vancouver on Saturday, December 1, 2018.
She is now facing extradition to the U.S. on suspicion she violated U.S. sanctions against Iran, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Details of the arrest have not been released but the U.S. has been investigating Huawei over possible violation of sanctions against Iran.
This comes after Reuters reported in April that the U.S. authorities have been probing Huawei since at least 2016 for allegedly shipping U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws.
Meng, who is the daughter of the company founder Ren Zhengfei, is expected to appear for a court hearing this Friday, a Canadian Justice Department spokesman said, according to the report.
China’s embassy in Canada has since criticized Canada and the United States for the arrest in a statement, and also demanded Meng’s immediate release.
‘The Canadian police, at the request of the United States, arrested a Chinese citizen who had not violated any U.S. or Canadian law,’ the embassy said in a short statement on its website.
‘China has already made solemn representations to the United States and Canada, demanding they immediately correct their wrong behavior and restore Ms Meng Wanzhou’s freedom.’
Reacting to the arrest, representatives of Huawei told The New York Times: ‘The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng.’
