Canada approves extradition of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou

The Canada government on Friday approved extradition proceedings against Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, Reuters reported.
Meng Wanzhou is the daughter of Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei. She was detained in Vancouver last December and is under house arrest. The U.S. Justice Department in late January charged Meng Wanzhou and Huawei with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Meng Wanzhou will appear in a Vancouver court at 10 am Pacific time (1800 GMT) on March 6, when a date will be set for her extradition hearing.

“Today, department of Justice Canada officials issued an authority to proceed, formally commencing an extradition process in the case of Ms. Meng Wanzhou,” the government said in a statement.

China denounced the decision and repeated previous demands for Meng Wanzhou’s release from Canada.

US Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas Oxman said Washington thanked the Canadian government for its assistance. “We appreciate Canada’s steadfast commitment to the rule of law,” she said in a statement.

It could be years before Meng Wanzhou is sent to the United States, since Canada’s justice system allows many decisions to be appealed. A final decision will likely come down to the federal justice minister.