Chinese Embassy in Ottawa urges U.S., Canada to release Huawei CFO

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa Friday urged Canada and the United States to release Meng Wanzhou, the wrongfully detained chief financial officer of Chinese technology company Huawei, without further delay and ensure her safe return to China.

Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to attend a court appearance in Vancouver, British Columbia. [File photo: IC/Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press]

"The Meng Wanzhou incident is not just a judicial case, but the U.S. using state power to work with its certain ally to suppress a private high-tech Chinese enterprise on unwarranted charges. This is a typical bullying behavior," a spokesperson for the embassy said.

The spokesperson noted that the arrest of two Canadians -- Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor -- by the Chinese authorities is "completely different in nature" from Meng's case, saying the two Canadians "were arrested according to law for suspected crimes endangering China's national security."

"China is a country with rule of law. Its judicial authorities handle cases independently in accordance with law," said the spokesperson, adding that "all the countries should respect China's judicial sovereignty and not randomly criticize China on matters within its judicial sovereignty."

Meng was arrested on Dec. 1, 2018, at Vancouver International Airport at the request of the United States, which is seeking her extradition on fraud charges. Both Meng and Huawei have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.