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Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou Returns to China to Great Jubilation
27 September 2021
EIRNS—After nearly three years in house arrest (after paying bail to get out of prison) in Canada, while fighting extradition to the United States on dubious charges, Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was at last allowed to return to China Sept. 25 after reaching an agreement with U.S. authorities. Shortly after that, the two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who had been apprehended by Chinese authorities on charges of espionage, were also released and allowed to return to Canada. Spavor had already been convicted by a Chinese court and Kovrig was awaiting trial. Kovrig was working for the Soros-funded International Crisis Group, which conducts all sorts of “color revolution” operations, when he was arrested. Spavor was a private consultant who was working in Dandong on the border with North Korea. Spavor had numerous sports exchanges with the D.P.R.K. The reasons for the decision by the Justice Department to drop the effort to seek extradition may be partly due to the flimsiness of its case against Meng (allegedly lying to HSBC). The real target of the operation was Huawei, which has become a leading force in telecommunications and was gaining international traction. It may also be a U.S. signal of more collaboration toward China in certain areas. But given the massive increase of tensions with the recent “Orcus” (AUKUS) submarine decision, no one is holding their breath that there will be a major change any time soon. The decision has, however, been greeted as eliminating a continuous irritant in relations between China and the U.S. and Canada. Returning to her homeland shortly before China’s National Day on Oct. 1, Meng’s release has created great joy among the Chinese people. And in the Shenzhen airport on her arrival, Meng made a short statement expressing her gratitude for support by the Chinese people and by the government, and then sang the popular song “Ode to the Motherland” along with the crowd who came to greet her. By contrast, the Justice Department’s response on her case shows where its morality lies. In its statement, the DOJ defended its case, charging Meng with a “principal role in perpetrating a scheme to defraud a global financial institution,” referring to HSBC, originally the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, the 179-year-old drug bank that got its start financing the British Empire’s Opium Wars against China, after which it was the Empire’s state bank in Hong Kong issuing its currency, even after 1997, when Hong Kong was finally receded to China. “Financial institutions are our first line of defense in maintaining the safety and security of the U.S. financial system,” remarked Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the DOJ Criminal Division. |