New York (AFP)
An agreement will be ratified by a New York court on Friday between the American authorities and the financial director of telecommunications giant Huawei, putting an end to three years of legal battle and tensions between Beijing, Washington and Ottawa.
This agreement will allow Meng Wanzhou to return to China after nearly three years of forced stay in Canada, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The agreement between the US Department of Justice and Huawei is to be announced in a virtual hearing at 1:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. GMT) in federal court in Brooklyn, where Meng Wanzhou will appear remotely, according to the WSJ.
The services of the federal court of Brooklyn sent at midday a short letter from the Department of Justice confirming a hearing at 1:00 p.m. with a view to a "settlement of the proceedings" in the case "United States against Wanzhou Meng", without further details.
Solicited by AFP, the leader's lawyers refused to comment, as did the US Department of Justice.
Meng Wanzhou, 49, daughter of the founder of the telecoms juggernaut, was arrested on December 1, 2018 at Vancouver airport at the request of Washington, who wants to try her for bank fraud.
The American justice accuses the number 2 of the telecoms giant of having lied to an executive of the bank HSBC during a meeting in Hong Kong in 2013, about the links between the Chinese group and a subsidiary named Skycom which sold equipment to Iran, exposing the establishment to US sanctions.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the chief financial officer of Huawei would agree to recognize certain "faults" in exchange for a "postponement" then a "abandonment" of the charges for bank fraud.
The applicant has always denied these accusations.
The Chinese government has estimated since 2018 that the American administration - at the time of then President Donald Trump - was above all seeking to weaken Huawei, a cutting-edge Chinese company and world leader in 5G equipment and networks, unmatched on the American side.
In recent weeks, Ms. Meng's attorneys have again argued that the United States has brought an "abusive" lawsuit against its client.
Canada was in a way caught in the Sino-American turmoil, recalls the Journal, which speculates that the agreement between Washington and Beijing also results in the release of a businessman and a former diplomat. , both Canadians, detained in China: Michael Spavor sentenced to 11 years imprisonment for espionage and Michael Kovrig, in custody in China.
According to the American daily, the administration of Joe Biden would have resumed consultations on the Huawei file, in particular in light of Ms. Meng's desire to find her family in China, after nearly three years of forced stay in Canada.
© 2021 AFP