Huawei arrest: Justin Trudeau denies political motivation

International Desk: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government had no involvement in the arrest of a top executive from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder, was detained at Vancouver airport on a US extradition request.

China has demanded her release, calling the arrest a human rights violation.
The charges have not been made public. Huawei said it was "not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng".

She faces a bail hearing on Friday.

Earlier reports suggested that last Saturday's arrest could be related to a US investigation into a possible violation of sanctions against Iran.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton declined to comment on this when questioned by journalists.

Instead he said that - generally speaking - he had "enormous concerns" over Chinese firms' business practices and their possible operations as "arms" of the government.

European shares hit a two-year low and indexes across Asia dropped sharply following the arrest, which analysts said revived worries over the US-China trade war.

However, the three main US indexes regained some ground by the end of the day, with the Nasdaq closing higher.

Ms Meng is the company's chief financial officer and the founder's daughter.
Huawei is one of the largest telecommunications equipment and services providers in the world, recently passing Apple to become the second-biggest smartphone maker after Samsung.

The details of the charges against her remain unknown after she sought a publication ban, which was granted by the Canadian judge.

She was arrested while changing flights on Saturday. It was the same day that US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Argentina for the G20 summit, where they agreed a 90-truce in their trade war.

Source: BBC


risingbd/Dec 7, 2018/Mukul