Huawei Says Disappointed By Canada's Decision To Initiate Extradition Of CFO Meng To US

China's high-tech giant Huawei said a statement, issued by its lawyers on Saturday, that Canada's decision to initiate the extradition of the company's Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, to the United States was disappointing.

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd March, 2019) China's high-tech giant Huawei said a statement, issued by its lawyers on Saturday, that Canada's decision to initiate the extradition of the company's Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, to the United States was disappointing.

On Friday, the Canadian Department of Justice said the authorities had decided to grant authorization to proceed with the extradition process in Meng's case. The British Columbia Supreme Court has scheduled an appearance date for Wednesday to confirm the extradition authorization and to set the date for the extradition hearing.

"The allegations of the US side are politically-motivated. The US president [Donald Trump] has repeatedly said that if the case of Ms. Meng Wanzhou helps reach a [trade] deal between the United States and China, he will intervene in this case. Despite that, the Canadian Justice Department still decided to issue the relevant order. We are very disappointed by these actions," the company said in a statement.

The telecoms giant noted that Meng's actions, considered as offenses by the United States, were not offensive under the Canadian law. Thus, Canada's authorization of extradition procedures violates the dual criminality principle � the main requirement for extradition, under which a person can be handed over for trial by one state to another if similar laws, which have been violated by the suspect, exist in both countries, according to Huawei.

"Ms. Meng Wanzhou did nothing illegal. The United States abused judicial procedures by initiating criminal procedures and asking for her extradition," the company argued.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei's founder, was arrested in Vancouver last December at the United States' request, reportedly on suspicions of failing to comply with US sanctions against Iran. The arrest was decried by Beijing, which demanded that Canadian authorities immediately release the Chinese national.

Huawei has insisted Meng has done nothing illegal.

Notably, the company has recently been accused by the United States, as well as a number of other countries, of stealing commercial information. Washington also said it suspected Huawei of working for the government of China, the US adversary and the country which is engaged in a major trade spat with Washington. Huawei has dismissed claims about its cooperation with the authorities and pleaded not guilty to trade secret theft charges.