Beijing: Huawei released the driver of diplomatic victory

China considers the release of Huawei CEO Meng Wanzhou a diplomatic victory. This was stated in a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. According to the ministry, Chinese President Xi Jinping was said to have ordered the release.

On China releasing two Canadians at the same time, a ministry spokeswoman said that “the two cases have nothing to do with each other.” China detained these two Canadians shortly after Meng’s arrest on suspicion of espionage. Critics in the United States and Canada say there is “hostage diplomacy” because China, the United States, and Canada are holding citizens of each other and using them to negotiate with each other.

US President Joe Biden did not make any statement about the release of Meng and the two Canadians. Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei and was arrested in Canada in 2018. She had been waiting for nearly three years to be extradited to the United States, which wanted her to stand trial for fraud and conspiracy.

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Huawei’s CEO issued a statement on Friday admitting it misled HSBC about commercial contacts between Huawei and an Iranian company, which has been sanctioned by the United States. The statement is part of a deal with the US justice system. The charges against her were dropped and she was allowed to leave Canada.

The deal comes two weeks after a phone call between Biden and Xi. That conversation centered on Beijing’s decision to link climate change to other topics, including the release of Meng, the lifting of sanctions and the removal of punitive charges. China wanted the United States to take the first step to strengthen relations and suggested that they meet “halfway”.