On December 1, 2018, at the request of the United States, Canada detained Meng Wanzhou, vice chairman and chief financial officer of Huawei, at Vancouver International Airport.
On December 1, 2020, Meng Wanzhou was detained by Canada for two years.
When Meng Wanzhou was detained by Canada for two years, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying stated at a regular press conference on December 1 that facts have fully proved that the Meng Wanzhou incident was a serious political incident.
The US government concocted this incident not for legal reasons. Its real purpose was to suppress Chinese high-tech enterprises and obstruct the development of China's science and technology. The Canadian government acted as an accomplice of the US and bears an inescapable responsibility.
"Meng Wanzhou has not violated any Canadian law, but has been unreasonably detained so far. We express our indignation and strongly condemn it again," she said.
Hua Chunying further pointed out that the Chinese government is unwavering in its determination to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its citizens, and we will continue to take all necessary measures to this end.
"We once again urge Canada to immediately correct its mistakes and release Meng Wanzhou to return to the motherland safely."
Screenshot of the official website of the Chinese Embassy in Canada on November 30, 2020
Cong Peiwu, Chinese Ambassador to Canada, had a phone call with Meng Wanzhou on November 30, local time, to express his cordial condolences.
Cong Peiwu told Meng Wanzhou that you have been wrongfully detained by Canada for two years, and we are very concerned about this.
I want to emphasize that the Chinese government is unwavering in its determination to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and enterprises. It will continue to urge Canada to take seriously China’s solemn position and concerns, correct wrong practices, make the correct decision to release you as soon as possible, and ensure you Return to China safely.
Cong Peiwu said that justice is in the hearts of the people, and justice will come!
Please strengthen your belief in victory and keep healthy.
We look forward to your safe return home as soon as possible.
Huawei Canada issued a brief statement on November 30, stating that (Meng Wanzhou was detained) for two years, Huawei still had confidence in Ms. Meng Wanzhou's innocence and believed that the Canadian judicial system could reach this conclusion.
Therefore, Huawei will continue to support Ms. Meng in seeking justice and freedom.
On November 30, 2020, Huawei Canada issued a brief statement through the social network platform.
At this stage, the extradition hearing process for Meng Wanzhou is currently being conducted in the High Court of British Columbia, Canada.
Review of Meng Wanzhou case——
On December 1, 2018, Canada detained Meng Wanzhou, who was transiting at Vancouver International Airport, at the request of the United States.
On December 5, 2018, the media disclosed the case.
The spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Canada made a statement at the request and emphasized that China firmly opposes and strongly protests this serious violation of human rights.
The spokesperson said that China has made solemn representations with the United States and Canada.
Data map: Meng Wanzhou.
Image source: Visual China
On December 7, 10, and 11, 2018, after three days of hearings, the British Columbia High Court in Vancouver issued a ruling and granted Meng Wanzhou to bail.
The bail is 10 million Canadian dollars, including 7 million Canadian dollars in cash.
The court also put forward some other bail conditions.
On January 29, 2019, the United States formally proposed to Canada to extradite Meng Wanzhou.
On March 1, 2019, the Canadian Ministry of Justice issued an order to authorize Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case.
On March 6, 2019, Meng Wanzhou appeared in the British Columbia High Court.
This is Meng Wanzhou's first appearance in court after the case entered the extradition judicial process.
The hearing, which lasted less than 20 minutes, was mainly procedural.
The defense lawyer stated in court that this case is extraordinary and the US's extradition request has potential political motives.
The defense also believes that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Border Affairs Bureau acted inappropriately in the process of detaining Meng Wanzhou.
On May 8, 2019, the Meng Wanzhou case was heard again in the British Columbia High Court, and Meng Wanzhou appeared in court again.
The hearing lasted approximately two and a half hours.
After the hearing, Huawei issued a media statement stating that the order of the United States to arrest Meng Wanzhou was an illegal abusive procedure, driven by political factors, not out of legal considerations.
Meng Wanzhou will apply to the court to terminate the extradition procedure.
On June 6, 2019, the British Columbia High Court decided to set the time for the formal hearing of Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case on January 20, 2020.
Huawei issued a statement on the same day in response, stating that the US allegations do not constitute a crime under Canadian law, and the extradition application does not comply with the core principles of the Extradition Act.
Huawei also believes that Canadian law enforcement has serious procedural abuse.
On June 24, 2019, Meng Wanzhou’s team of lawyers disclosed to the media that they had sent a letter to the Canadian Federal Attorney General, calling for an appropriate legal basis to revoke the extradition procedure for Meng Wanzhou.
On August 20, 2019, after hearing the opinions of both the prosecution and the defense, the British Columbia High Court agreed to publish some documents of the Meng case including surveillance video clips of Meng Wanzhou when he was detained at Vancouver International Airport and hundreds of pages of relevant court documents.
Canada Media disclosed part of these materials on the 21st.
From September 23 to 25, and from September 30 to October 3, 2019, the Meng Wanzhou case was again held in the High Court of British Columbia to conduct an information disclosure hearing on the case.
On November 28, 2019, Cong Peiwu, the Chinese Ambassador to Canada, who has served on the new contract for two months, went to Vancouver to visit Meng Wanzhou.
On December 1, 2019, when he was detained by the Canadian side for one year, Meng Wanzhou sent an open letter entitled "Your Warmth Is a Beacon that Illuminates My Progress" on Huawei's employee network community platform "Xinsheng Community".
She said in the article: "This year, I experienced fear and pain, disappointment and helplessness, suffering and struggle. This year, I learned to be strong and tolerate, face calmly, and not fear the unknown."
Data map: Meng Wanzhou appeared in court on November 26, 2020 to attend the hearing.
On January 17, 2020, Meng Wanzhou appeared again in the British Columbia High Court.
The court agreed that the prosecution should strive to disclose more relevant documents according to the request of the Bangladeshi lawyers team before February 28 to clarify whether there was any abuse of power by law enforcement agencies during the arrest in Bangladesh.
From January 20 to 23, 2020, the first phase of the formal hearing of Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case was launched in the British Columbia High Court, and the prosecution and the defense entered a substantive court battle.
Meng Wanzhou appeared in court throughout.
The focus of this round of hearings was to debate whether the U.S. extradition request against Meng Wanzhou complies with the principle of "double criminality". The judge did not make a ruling in court.
"Double criminality" is one of the core principles of Canada's extradition law, that is, the crime charged by the suspect against the suspect by the country seeking extradition is also a crime in Canada, which is a prerequisite for carrying out extradition.
On April 27, 2020, the extradition case of Meng Wanzhou reopened in the High Court of British Columbia to make arrangements for the ruling on the issue of "dual criminality", but the date for the judge's ruling was not specified.
On May 21, 2020, the British Columbia High Court announced that the presiding judge will rule on the “dual criminality” of Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case on May 27.
On May 27, 2020, the presiding judge, Heather Holmes, used a nearly 8,000-word, 23-page ruling on Meng Wanzhou’s claim that the extradition case did not meet the “double criminality” standard. Dismissed and ruled that Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case met the “double criminality” standard.
This means that the extradition hearing will continue, and Meng Wanzhou will still be detained in Vancouver on bail.
Huawei expressed disappointment at the court's decision that day.
On May 28, 2020, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Canada issued a statement on the "dual criminality" ruling and pointed out that the Chinese side expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this and has lodged solemn representations with the Canadian side in this regard.
On June 15, 2020, the case management hearing of Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case was held in the British Columbia High Court to discuss issues such as procedures.
In a memorandum submitted to the court, the defense team of the Bangladeshi side pointed out that the summary of evidence provided to the Canadian court by the U.S. requesting extradition was "seriously inaccurate and misleading", based on deliberate and/or reckless misstatements and major omissions , Which constitutes a serious abuse of the degree of extradition.
From July 27 to 30, 2020, the Federal Court of Canada in Ottawa held a hearing to discuss whether the prosecution should fully disclose the relevant documents of Meng Wanzhou when he was detained to the Meng lawyer.
From August 17 to 21, 2020, the British Columbia High Court held a hearing on information disclosure in the case involving Meng Wanzhou.
From September 28 to September 30, 2020, the British Columbia High Court held a hearing on the extradition case of Meng Wanzhou.
Meng Wanzhou attended the hearing.
This is the first time Meng Wanzhou himself appeared in court after the "dual criminality" verdict in late May.
The judge did not reach a conclusion in court as to whether the US misled Canada in the accusation and whether the court accepted additional evidence to confirm this statement.
On October 8, 2020, the Deputy Chief Judge of the British Columbia High Court and the presiding judge of the Meng Wanzhou extradition case, Holmes, made a decision to support most of the “privilege” claims made by Canadian officials not to disclose relevant information.
From October 26 to October 30, 2020, the case of Meng Wanzhou was heard in the High Court of British Columbia. The prosecution and the defense focused on whether there was any procedural abuse in the detention of Meng Wanzhou by law enforcement agencies. Several relevant witnesses from the Canadian Border Services Agency and the Royal Mounted Police launched cross-examination.
This also allowed the outside world to learn about the specific process of the detention of Meng Wanzhou by Canadian law enforcement agencies for the first time.
On October 29, 2020, the British Columbia High Court announced a ruling on the extradition case of Meng Wanzhou.
The trial judge supported part of Meng Wanzhou's appeal on the issue of proof.
From November 16th to 20th, and from November 23rd to 27th, 2020, the Meng Wanzhou case will continue to be heard in the High Court of British Columbia. The Canadian Border Services Agency and the Royal Mounted Police will accept the cross between the prosecution and the defense. ask.
At present, witnesses have admitted that there were errors in the arrest process, and there are also cases where witnesses have contradictory statements or inconsistent testimonies.
The extradition hearing is scheduled to be held in late April next year
In December 2020, the British Columbia High Court will continue to hold court sessions and arrange for witnesses to be cross-examined by the prosecution and defense.
Thereafter, the court plans to enter a hearing and ruling on whether the procedural abuse in this case can be established in the first quarter of 2021.
Meng Wanzhou’s defense team believes that the extradition case has procedural abuse, so the extradition procedure should be suspended and three branch lines should be set up to appeal:
The first is to prove the political nature of the case by high-level US political figures.
The second is to demonstrate that there was procedural abuse in the detention of Meng by law enforcement agencies at Vancouver International Airport;
The third is to point out that the case records and other documents provided by the United States to Canadian officials are misleading and contain "major omissions and misstatements."
The hearing on whether to extradite is scheduled to be held in late April 2021.
However, depending on the current progress of the court hearing, the subsequent schedule may be postponed.
Reporter: Yu Ruidong