Canadian authorities arrested the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies over the weekend as part of a U.S. probe into whether the Chinese telecommunications giant violated sanctions against Iran.
Huawei’s Wanzhou Meng, who is also the daughter of billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested Saturday at the request of American officials, the Globe and Mail reported Wednesday.
“Wanzhou Meng was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1. She is sought for extradition by the United States, and a bail hearing has been set for Friday,” Justice department spokesperson Ian McLeod told the outlet. “As there is a publication ban in effect, we cannot provide any further detail at this time. The ban was sought by Ms. Meng.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The federal government and lawmakers have charged that both Huawei — the world’s second largest provider of smartphones — and fellow Chinese telecom firm ZTE Inc. effectively operate as conduits for Chinese espionage in the U.S.
The Pentagon previously banned the sale of products from both companies on U.S. military bases. The Commerce Department earlier this year also imposed a seven-year ban on ZTE for breaching a settlement agreement reached in 2016 after the company violated sanctions against North Korea and Iran. That ban was lifted at the request of President Trump and after ZTE agreed to a number of terms, including an overhaul of its leadership team.
The news of the arrest comes as Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attempt to negotiate a broad trade deal to address key U.S. complaints like Beijing’s theft of American intellectual property.
The two countries reached a trade detente at the G20 summit in Argentina this past weekend, but administration officials say the White House is ready to impose new sanctions on another $267 billion in Chinese goods, as well as hike prior levies on $200 billion in goods from 10 percent to 25 percent, if an agreement is not reached within 90 days.
