Canadian authorities have arrested the chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies for possible extradition to the United States.

Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Saturday, Justice Department spokesman Ian McLeod said.

Mr McLeod said a publication ban had been imposed in the case and he could not provide further details.

The ban was sought by Meng, who has a bail hearing on Friday, he said.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that US authorities are investigating whether Chinese tech giant Huawei violated sanctions on Iran.

Meng is also deputy chairman of the board and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei. </s> Canada has arrested Huawei's global chief financial officer in Vancouver, where she is facing extradition to the United States on suspicion she violated US sanctions against Iran, the Globe and Mail newspaper reports.

Meng Wanzhou, who is one of the vice chairs on the Chinese technology company's board and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on December 1 and a court hearing has been set for Friday, a Canadian Justice Department spokesman said, according to the Globe and Mail.

Representatives of Huawei, one of the world's largest makers of telecommunications network equipment, could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters.

Officials for the Canadian and US Justice Departments did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

US authorities have been probing Huawei since at least 2016 for allegedly shipping US-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of US export and sanctions laws, sources told Reuters in April. </s> Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer and deputy chair of the board for the Chinese tech giant Huawei who was arrested in Vancouver on Saturday, is scheduled to have a bail hearing later today.

According to a statement from the Department of Justice, Meng, 46, was arrested in Vancouver and is being sought for extradition by the United States.

Meng, who is also the daughter of Huawei's founder and CEO, Ren Zhengfei, was granted a publication ban, which prevents the department from releasing further details about the arrest.

The Globe and Mail, citing law enforcement sources, reported that Meng is suspected of trying to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Huawei, an increasingly dominant player in the network equipment market, is under scrutiny from the U.S. and other governments over suspected ties to the Chinese government and possible links to spying.

The company says Beijing has no influence over its operations.

News of Meng's arrest pummeled stock markets in anticipation the move would derail planned trade talks between China and the U.S., the world's two largest economies. </s> BEIJING (AP) — The Latest on the arrest of an executive of Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies. (All times local):

China's foreign ministry has demanded Canada release a top executive at Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies who has been detained while in transit, and reveal the reasoning behind her arrest.

Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Thursday that China was in contact over the case of Meng Wanzhou with both Canada and the U.S., which requested her detention on suspicion of trying to evade U.S. curbs on trade with Iran.

Geng also said Meng's legal rights must be ensured. He said neither Canada or the U.S. had so far responded to China's concerns.

Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer, faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. Meng was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, the day President Donald Trump met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Argentina.

China has demanded Canada release a Huawei Technologies executive who was arrested in a case that adds to technology tensions with Washington and threatens to complicate trade talks.

Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, said she is accused of trying to evade U.S. curbs on trade with Iran.

The arrest follows a U.S.-Chinese cease-fire in a tariff war over Beijing's technology policy.

Asian stock markets tumbled on the news, fearing renewed U.S.-Chinese tensions that threaten global economic growth.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said Meng broke no U.S. or Canadian laws and demanded Canada "immediately correct the mistake" and release her. </s> FILE - In this March 13, 2018, file photo, a Huawei employee looks up as he walks toward the company's headquarters in Shenzhen in southern China's Guangdong Province. Canadian authorities said Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, that they have arrested the chief financial officer of China's Huawei Technologies for possible extradition to the United States. (AP Photo/Dake Kang, File) (AP) </s> VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The reasons that the United States asked the Canadian authorities to arrest a top executive of the Chinese technology company Huawei last week had been shrouded in mystery.

On Friday, the details of the arrest and what led up to it came out in a Canadian courtroom.

At a bail hearing in Vancouver for Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei and a daughter of the company’s founder, Canadian prosecutors said she was accused of fraud. The heart of the charges related to how Ms. Meng may have personally participated in a scheme to trick American financial institutions into making transactions that violated United States sanctions against Iran, they said.

Ms. Meng had “direct involvement” with Huawei’s representations to banks, said John Gibb-Carsley, an attorney with Canada’s Justice Department.

The hearing shed light on an incident that has rattled the relationship between the United States and China. While changing planes in Vancouver on Dec. 1, Ms. Meng was arrested at the behest of the United States, which has for years looked into potential ties between Huawei and the Chinese government or Communist Party. </s> Ms Meng at a capital investment forum in Moscow in 2014. Huawei's chief financial officer was arrested in Canada on Dec 1 and faces extradition to the US. She is the daughter of the company's founder.

A TOP executive and daughter of the founder of Chinese telecom giant Huawei has been arrested in Canada and faces extradition to the United States, officials said on Thursday, angering Beijing days into a trade war truce with the US.

The detention of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, comes after American authorities reportedly launched an investigation into suspected violations of Iran sanctions by Huawei, which was already under scrutiny by US intelligence officials who deemed the company a national security threat.

The arrest stirred tensions just as the United States and China agreed to a ceasefire in their trade spat while negotiators seek a deal within three months.

News of her detention rippled through stock markets in Asia, particularly Shanghai and Hong Kong, with tech firms among the worst hit. By lunch, Shanghai was 1.3 per cent lower while Hong Kong was 2.6 per cent off.

"China is working creatively to undermine our national security interests, and the United States and our allies can't sit on the sidelines," US Senator Ben Sasse in a statement linking the arrest to US sanctions against Iran.

"Sometimes Chinese aggression is explicitly state-sponsored and sometimes it's laundered through many of Beijing's so-called 'private' sector entities that are in bed with (President) Xi (Jinping)'s communist party," he added.

Ms Meng was arrested in the western city of Vancouver on Dec 1, Canada's ministry of justice said in a statement.

The ministry said the US is seeking her extradition and she faces a bail hearing on Friday, adding it could not provide further details due to a publication ban sought by Ms Meng, whose father, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, is a former Chinese People's Liberation Army engineer.

The arrest occurred on the same day that US President Donald Trump and Mr Xi struck the trade war truce at a summit in Argentina.

"The Chinese side firmly opposes and strongly protests over such kind of actions which seriously harmed the human rights of the victim," the embassy said in a statement.

"The Chinese side has lodged stern representations with the US and Canadian side, and urged them to immediately correct the wrongdoing and restore the personal freedom of Ms Meng Wanzhou."

Huawei said it was unaware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng and was provided "very little information" about the charges.

"Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations where it operates, including applicable export control and sanction laws and regulations of the UN, US and EU," the company said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal reported in April that US Department of Justice had opened an investigation into suspected violations of Iran sanctions by Huawei.

The New York Times said the company had been subpoenaed by the Commerce and Treasury Departments over alleged violations of Iran and North Korea sanctions.

Huawei is not the first Chinese telecoms equipment firm to face the ire of US authorities.

Earlier this year, the US imposed a seven-year ban on the sale of crucial US components to Chinese smartphone maker ZTE after finding it had failed to take action against staff who were responsible for violating trade sanctions against Iran and North Korea.

The ban nearly killed the Chinese tech company, which said it was forced to cease major operations in May. A month later, Washington and Beijing reached a deal that would strike ZTE from the sanctions list - just days after China reportedly offered to ramp up purchases of American goods to help cut the yawning trade imbalance with the US. American officials denied any connection between the two.

In exchange, ZTE agreed to pay a hefty US$1 billion fine and put an additional US$400 million in escrow in case of future violations. It was also ordered to replace its board of directors and retain outside monitors.

The case showed that China is highly dependent on imports of US-made semiconductors or computer chips and reinforced Beijing's need to become self-reliant on this key technology.

Huawei is one of the world's largest telecommunications equipment and services providers.

But despite global success, its US business has been tightly constrained by worries it could undermine American competitors and that its cellphones and networking equipment, used widely in other countries, could provide Beijing with avenues for espionage.

In May, the Pentagon said that devices from Huawei and ZTE posed an "unacceptable" security risk. Personnel on US military bases are banned from buying equipment manufactured by the Chinese tech firms.

Over the summer, Australia barred Huawei from providing 5G technology for wireless networks in the country over espionage fears.

New Zealand followed suit in November, but said the issue was a technological one.

Britain's largest mobile provider too has joined the global ban on Huawei. On Wednesday, BT announced it was removing Huawei's telecommunications equipment from its 4G cellular network, following a warning from the head of MI6 foreign intelligence service that singled out the Chinese company as a potential security risk.

Despite being essentially barred from the critical US market, Huawei surpassed Apple to become the world's number two smartphone maker in the second quarter of this year. AFP </s> Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has fired his Chinese ambassador, John McCallum, after the ambassador made several comments regarding the controversial arrest of a Huawei executive in December, saying that she has a strong case to oppose extradition.

Back in December, Canadian authorities arrested Huawei CFO (and daughter of the company’s founder), Meng Wanzhou, who also served on the board of a Hong Kong company, Skycom. That company allegedly did business with Iran, and prosecutors say that because Huawei did business with US banks, she violated US sanctions against the country. Meng was granted bail in a Canadian court shortly after her arrest, and remains in British Columbia while the US attempts to make a case that she should be extradited to stand charges here.

Earlier this week, McCallum said at a news conference that Meng “has some strong arguments that she can make before a judge” when it comes to opposing her extradition, citing statements from US President Donald Trump, and the nature of the sanctions. While McCallum attempted to walk the statements back, but told the Toronto Star that if the US were to drop the extradition request, “that would be great for Canada.”

His statements suggested that the arrests were politically motivated, and have caused considerable headaches for his government as critics have accused him of interfering in the case. The initial arrest has cooled relations between Canada and China, which arrested two Canadian citizens shortly after Meng’s arrest. The deadline for US authorities to file their extradition request comes this week: January 30th. </s> VANCOUVER: Chinese telecom giant Huawei's chief financial officer faces US fraud charges related to sanctions-breaking business dealings with Iran, a Canadian court heard on Friday (Dec 7), a week after she was detained on an American extradition request.

Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada's Pacific coast city of Vancouver on Dec 1 while changing planes during a trip from Hong Kong to Mexico - ratcheting tensions between the United States and China just as the countries' leaders agreed a truce in their trade war.

A Canadian government lawyer asked the court to deny her bail, saying she has been accused of "conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions" and if convicted faces more than 30 years in prison.

She is specifically accused of lying to US banks about the use of a covert subsidiary to sell to Iran in breach of sanctions.

The lawyer said that Meng had personally denied to American bankers any direct connections between Huawei and the subsidiary, SkyCom, when in fact "SkyCom is Huawei." SkyCom's alleged sanctions breaches occurred from 2009 to 2014.

He suggested that Meng has also shown a pattern of avoiding the United States over the past year since becoming aware of the investigation into the matter, argued that she has no ties to Canada and has access to vast wealth and political connections - and thus poses a flight risk.

Meng's detention in Canada came on the day of a summit at which US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to a truce in the escalating trade dispute opposing the two economic powerhouses.

China says Meng - the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, a former engineer in China's People's Liberation Army - has violated no laws in Canada or the United States and has demanded her release.

Washington and Beijing have exchanged steep tariffs on more than US$300 billion in total two-way trade, locking them in a conflict that has begun to eat into profits.

Trump tweeted Friday that negotiations to defuse the high stakes dispute were "going very well" but the messages since Meng's arrest have been mixed, roiling global stock markets.

Her appearance at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver is a prelude to an extradition process that could take months.

CNN, quoting an unnamed official, said the United States saw the arrest as providing leverage in US-China trade talks - although White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has denied any link to the dialogue.

On Friday, Beijing nevertheless alleged that Meng, known internally as the "princess" of Huawei and possible heir to the throne, had become a pawn in the dispute.

"The Chinese government should seriously mull over the US tendency to abuse legal procedures to suppress China's high-tech enterprises," said the nationalist tabloid Global Times in an editorial.

"Obviously, Washington is resorting to a despicable rogue's approach as it cannot stop Huawei's 5G advance in the market," it went on.

Meng spent most of the past week at a women's detention facility in a suburb of Vancouver.

If she is released on bail, she would likely have to surrender her passport and submit to electronic monitoring until she is discharged or surrendered for trial to the United States. All security costs would be borne by her.

The extradition process could take months, even years, if appeals are made in the case. The Vancouver Sun reported on Friday that Meng's husband Xiaozong Liu is believed to own at least one luxury home in the city.

Canada is one of more than 100 countries that have an extradition treaty with the United States, requiring it to cooperate with US Department of Justice requests to hand over suspects.

This longstanding treaty requires that the offence for which extradition is being sought is also a crime in Canada.

A Canadian court must decide if there is sufficient evidence to support the extradition, but then it is left to Canada's justice minister to sign the order.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended Canada's arrest of Meng, saying politics played no part in the decision.

"I can assure everyone that we are a country (with) an independent judiciary," Trudeau told a tech conference in Montreal.

READ: Europe should be wary of Huawei, EU tech official says

Huawei's affordable smartphones have made strong inroads in the developing world, but the company has faced repeated setbacks in major Western economies over security concerns.

Earlier this week, Canadian officials said Ottawa was continuing to review Huawei's technology for use in upcoming fifth generation networks.

The company faces being shut out of Australia, New Zealand and US 5G rollouts, and British telecom group BT revealed on Wednesday it was removing Huawei equipment from its core cellular network.

The five nations together form the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance. </s> The Chinese executive of Huawei who was arrested in Canada and facing possible extradition to the US has thanked her supporters on social media after being granted bail Tuesday evening.

Meng Wanzhou, 46, wrote on Chinese messaging platform WeChat: 'I am in Vancouver and have returned to be with my family. I am proud of Huawei. I am proud of my motherland. Many thanks to everybody who has cared about me.'

A screen shot of the post is circulating by the Chinese media and is currently trending.

Along with the words, Meng also shared a Huawei advertisement which shows the feet of a ballet dancer and a Chinese slogan reading 'what lied behind greatness is suffering'.

Meanwhile, pictures from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) show Meng, the daughter of Chinese billionaire and Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, leaving the court through a side door at British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver at around 8pm local time.

Wearing a maroon down jacket and a hoodie, Meng appeared nearly five hours after the court granted her bail, reported CBC.

Surrounded by security staff, she did not say anything to reporters before being led into a black car to take her back to her home in Vancouver.

A Canadian judge granted bail to the top Chinese executive who was facing possible extradition to the US yesterday.

After three days of hearings, Meng Wanzhou was released on bail of C$10million (US$7.4million) - on the condition she surrender her two passports and agree to wear an ankle bracelet.

She will have to stay in Vancouver and its suburbs and confine herself to one of her two Vancouver homes from 11pm to 6am.

The chief financial officer and vice chairman of telecommunications giant Huawei - the world's second largest smartphone maker - had asked for bail in exchange for putting up her husband, children and C$11million (US$8.23million) in real estate as sureties.

Wanzhou was detained at the request of the US during a layover at the Vancouver airport on December 1 - the same day that Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping of China agreed to a 90-day cease-fire in a trade dispute that threatens to disrupt global commerce.

Justice William Ehrcke granted her bail Tuesday evening, according to the Associated Press.

After the news of the Meng's release broke, President Trump indicated that the move - which is expected to placate angry Chinese officials - could be part of a broader trade deal with China.

When asked if he would intervene with the Justice Department in her case, Trump told Reuters: 'Whatever's good for this country, I would do.

'If I think it's good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made – which is a very important thing – what's good for national security – I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary.'

Trump also said the White House has spoken with the Justice Department about the case, as well as Chinese officials.

'They have not called me yet. They are talking to my people. But they have not called me yet,' he said when asked if he has spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping about the case.

Meng's lawyer said his team worked overnight Monday to make changes to its bail plan to help satisfy concerns that have been raised about her release.

David Martin said the defense contacted four potential sources to offer sureties for Huawei's CFO and prepared affidavits after the judge and a federal prosecutor questioned whether Meng's husband would be a suitable person to ensure she complies with any bail conditions.

Martin said one person who is proposed to offer a financial guarantee is a realtor who met Meng in 2009 and sold two properties to the couple.

The man has pledged his home, valued at C$1.8million (US$1.3million), and said he understands he would lose it if Meng violated the conditions of her release.

Martin also read from the affidavit of another man who said he worked at Huawei in China in the mid-1990s and got to know Meng on a personal level.

He vouched for Meng's character to comply with any conditions imposed by the British Columbia Supreme Court and has pledged C$500,000 (US$373,000) from the equity on his home in Vancouver, which is valued at C$1.4million (US$1million).

Ehrcke questioned whether Liu Xiaozong could provide a surety because he is on a six-month visitor's visa to Canada and the form to provide the financial guarantee says it must be provided by a resident of British Columbia.

A surety is a guarantor responsible for ensuring she meets bail terms and who would legally be liable to pay fines if she did not.

Wanzhou said she has ties to Vancouver going back 15 years. She and her husband Liu own two homes in the city, and she even had a Canadian permanent residency permit that she has since renounced.

Liu, said to be Wanzhou's second husband, used to be Huawei's representative in Mexico, according to a recent column on Shanghai's Jiefang Daily newspaper.

He currently works as the chairman of Depu Education, a private international school in China's Chongqing city, the article claimed.

It is rumored that the school, aimed to recruit children from rich Chinese families, was co-founded by Wanzhou and Xiaozong with an investment of 1 billion yuan (US$145million).

Xiaozong, who was at the hearing, has offered the residences and C$1million (US$747,468) in cash - for a total value of C$15million (US$11million) - as a surety for his wife's release, the court heard.

However a Canadian judge yesterday voiced doubts that Liu could act as his wife Meng's 'surety' - a guarantor responsible for ensuring she meets bail terms and who would legally be liable to pay fines if she did not.

The issue of the surety was central to the postponing of the hearing on Monday - with Ehrcke saying he would not make a decision until both sides addressed 'the necessity and/or strong desirability of a surety being a resident of the province.'

Liu, whose visitor visa expires in February, is a risky surety from the prosecutors point of view because he is not a resident of Canada and therefore may not be present for the extradition proceedings which may last years.

The US wants Meng to face allegations of fraud as it says Huawei used unofficial subsidiary Skycom to do business with Iranian telecommunications companies between 2009 and 2014 in violation of sanctions.

Meng has denied the allegations through her lawyer in court, promising to fight them if she is extradited for face charges in the United States.

The case has fueled US-China trade tensions and roiled financial markets.

The US has accused Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment to Iran in violation of US sanctions.

It also says Meng and Huawei misled banks about the company's business dealings in Iran.

In response to the bail hearings, China slammed the 'inhumane' treatment of Wanzhou, amid reports of her ill-health. The country's foreign minister on Tuesday also vowed to protect its citizens abroad.

Beijing will 'spare no effort' to protect against 'any bullying that infringes the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens,' Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a conference in Shanghai.

Wang didn't mention the 46-year-old Huawei executive, but a ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said Wang was referring to cases of all Chinese abroad, including Meng.

Huawei is the second-largest smartphone creator in the world after South Korean Samsung and ahead of Apple.

Meng is alleged to have conspired in helping Huawei avoid US sanctions on Iran.

Martin has said she should be granted bail before her extradition hearing because of severe hypertension and concerns about her health.

In a 55-page sworn affidavit, Meng said she has been treated in hospital for hypertension since her arrest.

'I continue to feel unwell and I am worried about my health deteriorating while I am incarcerated,' the affidavit read.

Meng also said she had suffered numerous health problems, including surgery for thyroid cancer in 2011.

Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang expressed fury over Wanzhou's treatment, citing China's state-run Global Times newspaper as reporting that 'it seems that the Canadian detention facility is not offering her the necessary health care.'

'We believe this is inhumane and violates her human rights,' Lu said at a regular press briefing.

Canadian Crown prosecutor John Gibb-Carsley has asked for bail to be denied, saying Meng faces serious criminal accusations of fraud and poses a flight risk.

Wanzhou is specifically accused of lying to bankers about Huawei's use of a covert subsidiary to sell to Iran, putting multinational banks at risk of breaching US sanctions, and incurring severe penalties.

'Underneath the core of the fraud, a financial institution in the US is being induced to violate sanctions against Iran,' Gibb-Carsley said.

If convicted, she faces more than 30 years in prison. The extradition process could take months, even years, if appeals are made in the case.

'I wish to remain in Vancouver to contest my extradition and I will contest the allegations at trial in the US if I am ultimately surrendered,' she said.

Martin told the court: 'Given her unique profile as the face of a Chinese corporate national champion, if she were to flee or breach her order in any way in these very unique circumstances, it does not overstate to say she would embarrass China itself.'

He had a tracking bracelet on hand in case she was immediately released.

'Someone here on a visitor's visa is not a resident of B.C. It's as simple as that, isn't it?' Justice Ehrcke asked David Martin in court.

Ehrcke said he was unsure how Xiaozong could serve as his wife's surety if he had no authority order that Liu to remain in Canada.

'It would be a frustrating and unfortunate exercise if I were to make an order and then you find that there is no suitable surety,' Ehrcke said.

'If the conditions can't be fulfilled, she's held in custody so I'm thinking ahead to make sure that you don't find yourself potentially in that situation.'

Meng's arrest has rocked stock markets and inflamed tensions amid a truce in the US-China trade war.

Analysts say the incident - the same day that presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day tariffs truce - could be used as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations between the United States and China.
The chief financial officer of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested on 1 December in Vancouver, Canada. She faces extradition to the United States. Huawei says she faces unspecified charges.