Home » Technology » Huawei, Meng Wanzhou and the two Michael: a diplomatic-judicial saga

Huawei, Meng Wanzhou and the two Michael: a diplomatic-judicial saga

Back on the most significant moments of this saga.

On December 1, 2018, Meng Wanzhou was arrested at the request of the American authorities during a stopover at Vancouver airport.

Huawei’s chief financial officer and daughter of the founder of the Chinese telecommunications giant is accused of lying to circumvent US sanctions against Iran.

This offense is punishable by more than 30 years in prison in the United States, a country to which she is threatened with extradition.

On December 11, a judge ordered his release on bail of $ 10 million. She is allowed to live in one of her villas in Vancouver, but must wear an electronic bracelet.

China threatens Ottawa with serious consequences if its national is not released.

On December 13, 2018, China confirms that it has taken coercive measures against two Canadians, arrested three days earlier, whom she suspected activities threatening its national security.

They are Michael Kovrig, a former diplomat previously stationed in Beijing, and consultant and businessman Michael Spavor, a specialist in North Korea.

Michael Kovrig (left) and Michael Spavor (right)

Photo: The Canadian Press / Twitter

These measures appear to many observers as a response to Ms. Meng’s detention.

Canada denounces detentions arbitrary.

In January 2019, tensions between Beijing and Ottawa escalated when a court in northeast China sentenced 36-year-old Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg to death.

Arrested in 2014 for drug trafficking and sentenced at first instance to 15 years in prison, the man suddenly surfaced, the justice judging the initial sentence too indulgent.

On May 17, 2019, China formally arrested MM. Kovrig and Spavor, more than five months after their arrest.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau qualifies the measure unacceptable.

On August 22, the United States stepped up to the plate: the head of American diplomacy Mike Pompeo evokes a arbitrary detention.

In May 2020, a court in Canada ruled in favor of continuing legal proceedings against Meng Wanzhou for extradition to the United States. This decision showered hopes for a warming of relations between Canada and China.

A month later, Chinese courts formally indict MM. Kovrig and Spavor for spying and disclosure of state secrets.

In a closed-door trial, Michael Spavor is sentenced in August 2021 to 11 years’ imprisonment, a verdict ruled absolutely unacceptable by Ottawa. No decision has yet been announced in Mr Kovrig’s case.

The US government on Friday proposed in a New York court to reporter until the end of 2022, the proceedings against Meng Wanzhou, an agreement ratified by the courts.

In the process, a Canadian judge ordered the release of Ms. Meng and closed the extradition proceedings, during a short hearing before the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver. Hours after the decision, Meng Wanzhou left Canada for China.

In the process, Justin Trudeau announces that MM. Kovrig and Spavor left Chinese airspace, on their way home.

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