Western media hype arrests before Huawei exec trial

Even before the scheduled appearance for the extradition case of top Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, set for Monday to Thursday as local media reported, Western media such as the New York Times and the Financial Times have come up with reports on arrested former Huawei employees who leaked so-called forbidden subject about Iran. The move is considered a choreographed public opinion campaign in weighing on the Canadian government to choose a side between China and the US, insiders and analysts said on Sunday.

The hearing is likely to take place by teleconference due to the ongoing novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) pandemic. Given the case has been based on politically motivated false allegations, it would take much longer than anticipated to see a result coming out of the legal proceedings, particularly when the pandemic is likely to disrupt and complicate the relations among China, Canada and the US, according to analysts.

Meng, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, was arrested in Canada on December 1, 2018 at the behest of the US.

The British Columbia Supreme Court heard arguments in January 2020 on the matter of double criminality – a crucial factor to decide whether the extradition to the US would proceed, media reported.

While the case is adjourned until Monday (April 27), the New York Times run a story on Sunday citing some former Huawei employees including Li Hongyuan and Zeng Meng who claimed to have been detained by Shenzhen police for “talking about the topic on Huawei’s activities in Iran.” In fact they were detained for blackmailing and later released.

“This is a common way for Western media outlets to hype on certain topic in order to interfere with a legal case, or with lawyers and judges in handling the case,” Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Huawei has delivered more than 1 million masks, 30,000 goggles and 50,000 pairs of gloves to Canada, local news site theglobeandmail reported on April 6. The theglobeandmail report said Huawei planned to donate 6 million masks to Canada, which comes at a time when it seeks a key federal approval to install its 5G technology in Canada and the release of Meng.

“I believe Huawei made the donations based on humanitarian concerns, as the virus is a common enemy for all,” Xiang said.