China Calls For Immediate Release Of Huawei Executive

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Jan 11, 1:58PM EST · Published Dec 9, 7:08AM EST

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China Calls For Immediate Release Of Huawei Executive — © Sam Haldane / Wikimedia Commons

Canada detained the CFO of Huawei who is also the founders daughter. Now, China has demanded that Meng Wanzhou be released immediately.

Canada arrested her based on a request from the U.S. The company has been accused of skirting laws which have put sanctions on Iran, by selling the Middle East nation telecom equipment

The Peoples Daily, the Chinese government’s official paper carried a detailed announcement:

Both the Chinese government and people on Thursday called for the immediate release of Meng Wanzhou, CFO of China’s Huawei Technologies, after it was reported that she was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States.

On Thursday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded to the incident at a regular press conference. Spokesperson Geng Shuang said that China has made its position clear to Canada and the United States and has demanded that Meng Wanzhou be released immediately. The spokesperson also said that the two countries are required to immediately clarify the reasons for her detention and must protect her legitimate rights and interests.

Under the official Weibo account of the US Embassy in China, a Chinese citizen wrote that the United States, which has already imposed a number of sanctions on Chinese companies, has hit a new low by arresting a Chinese citizen in Canada, limiting her personal freedom. “Are you that afraid of China’s rise?” the netizen asked. “Is this really how the world’s most powerful country should act?”

Some Chinese people online said that Meng Wanzhou was detained for no reason. “I have a new view of the United States. Even if America was once great, but has since gone rogue,” a comment read.

Under the official account of the Embassy of Canada to China, a large number of internet users questioned whether Canada has gone from being a sovereign state to “America’s hired thug.” They claim that Canada has violated the human rights of a Chinese citizen and demand that the Canadian side release Meng right away.

According to Huawei’s response to the detention of Meng, the CFO of China’s Huawei Technologies was provisionally detained by the Canadian Authorities at the request of the United States when she was transferring flights in Canada. The company said that the United States is seeking her extradition from Canada to face unspecified charges in the Eastern District of New York.

Huawei said that the company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Meng. The company also said that it complies with all applicable laws and regulations where it operates, including applicable export control and sanction laws and regulations of the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union.

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.