Extradition 'politically motivated'

Beijing calls move against Huawei CFO 'bullying' of Chinese tech company

Beijing reiterated its opposition on Wednesday to Washington's plans to seek a Huawei executive's extradition from Canada, saying the move would be "politically motivated" and "an act of bullying" of a Chinese high-tech company.

The rogue actions taken by the United States toward Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou are neither in conformity with international laws, nor do they have any legitimacy, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news conference on Wednesday.

Hua's remarks came in response to a U.S. Department of Justice statement on Tuesday that it would pursue Meng's extradition.

Meng was detained in Vancouver on Dec 1 on a U.S. arrest warrant citing bank fraud allegations related to sanctions on Iran. She was later released on bail and remains in the Canadian city.

U.S. sanctions on Iran are not within the framework of the United Nations Security Council, so the unilateral sanctions do not conform to international laws and have been opposed by the international community, including allies of the U.S., Hua said, adding the Canadian government also opposes the U.S. sanctions on Iran.

The real purpose of the U.S. is that it is trying to bully Chinese high-tech companies, Hua said.

The U.S. must file a formal request for extradition by Jan 30. Once it is received, a Canadian court has 30 days to determine if there is enough supporting evidence and the Canadian justice minister must issue a formal order, Reuters reported.

If the extradition is granted, it will set back the Canada-China relationship for decades, said Thomas Qu, executive president of the Ontario-based Canada China Guanxi Council.

However, Wang Haicheng, chairman of the Federation of Canadian Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said that the Chinese business community in Canada does not expect relations between the two countries to be impaired due to inappropriate handling of the incident.

On Wednesday, the Chinese embassy in Canada denied media reports of the cancellation of a planned trip to China by Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume in March.