On December 1, 2018,
Sabrina Meng Wanzhou,
the Chief Financial Officer of Huawei, was arrested by Canadian authorities in Vancouver, British Columbia. This was at the request of the United States, where, in the words of U.S. Secretary of State,
Mike Pompeo,
she is wanted for “bank fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.” And, indeed, the extradition treaty between the United States and Canada specifically lists bank fraud in the schedule of crimes for which extradition can be sought. Our understanding is that the fraud Ms. Meng is said to have committed was in connection with Huawei’s efforts to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, but that is another matter.
To say this is a high-level case is the acme of understatements. In addition to being a senior executive of China’s largest privately held company, Meng Wanzhou is the daughter of the Huawei’s founder,
Ren Zhengfei,
and, we assume, well known to
President Xi Jinping.
In a nutshell, China was more than displeased by Ms. Meng’s arrest, and on December 10, 2018, Chinese authorities arrested two Canadians,
Michael Kovrig
and
Michael Spavor
on charges of “endangering state security.” Widely known now as the Two Michaels, they are awaiting trial in a Chinese prison. No one doubts that they will be convicted of espionage.
Those Michaels-for-Meng arrests happened a year-and-a-half ago. More recently, Canada’s prime minister,
Justin Trudeau
, has been under pressure to suspend the court proceedings over Ms. Meng’s possible extradition to the United States. On June 23, for example, 19 prominent Canadians wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to do just that. In a press briefing on June 25, Mr. Trudeau emphatically rejected that advice. Today’s featured quote was taken from that exchange. Here is a bit more of it:
PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU:
I
respect the distinguished Canadians who put forward that letter, but I deeply disagree with them.
The idea of solving a short term situation by creating a precedent that demonstrates to China that all they or another country has to do is randomly arrest a handful of Canadians to put political pressure on a government to do what we want, even by going against the independence of our justice system, would endanger the millions of Canadians who live and travel overseas every single year.
We cannot allow political pressures or random arrests of Canadian citizens to influence the functioning of our justice system. So, I respect these individuals, but they are wrong in their approach.
But let’s back up a bit. The following short chronology gives you some of what has happened in this case.
CHRONOLOGY OF THE MENG AFFAIR
December 1, 2018
-- Sabrina Meng Wanzhou is arrested in Vancouver, British Columbia. The arrest was made in response to a request by the United States and pursuant to the terms of the U.S.-Canada extradition treaty. The U.S. authorities are charging Ms. Weng with bank fraud and violating the U.S. sanctions against Iran.
December 10, 2018
-- Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor are arrested in China on charges of “endangering state security.” Their arrests are widely seen as China’s retaliation for Canada’s detention of Meng Wanzhou. Often referred to as the Two Michaels, the fate of Messrs. Kovrig and Spavor is today (July 2, 2020) a high profile political issue in Canada. Indeed it is one that has gotten the attention of the world.
May 27, 2020
– The Supreme Court of British Columbia issues a ruling which, while not dispositive – there are still issues to be considered – does mean that the court’s consideration of America’s extradition request will continue. Because Canada does not honor extradition requests for acts that are not considered crimes in Canada, and because Canada does not ban exports to Iran, Ms. Meng and her legal team had hoped the U.S. extradition request would be dismissed for lack of what is known as “double criminality.” Our understanding of the ruling is that, while exporting goods to Iran is not a crime in Canada, fraud is, and bank fraud is the fundamental basis of the U.S. request.
June 19, 2020
– Chinese Authorities formally charge Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor with espionage. The Two Michaels have now already spent a year and half in a Chinese prison and, reportedly, in rather unpleasant conditions. These formal charges almost certainly mean that they will be tried, found guilty, and sentenced to quite a bit more time.
June 23, 2020
– Nineteen eminent Canadians write to Prime Minister Trudeau urging his government, namely Minister of Justice
David Lametti,
to direct that the court proceedings, the extradition hearing, against Ms. Meng be dropped and that she be released from house arrest. Among the signatories were two former Canadian ambassadors to the United States and one former minister of justice.
June 25, 2020
– Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to reporters in Ottawa and forcefully rejects the idea that the Government of Canada should, at this stage, interfere with the extradition proceedings in British Columbia against Meng Wanzhou.
July 1, 2020
– In a press briefing in Washington on Canada Day, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo called out China for “hostage taking for political gains,” and insisted that “the two Mikes need to come home now.”
