Detained Huawei driver leaves Canada after deal with US

Huawei CEO Meng Wanzhou has left Canada on his way to China after a Vancouver judge formally dropped the extradition case against it earlier in the day. As a result, Meng was allowed to leave the country after nearly three years under house arrest in Vancouver.

The US Department of Justice had requested Meng’s extradition, but struck a deal with her, it was announced Friday. This dropped the fraud and conspiracy charges against Huawei’s chief financial officer.

The deal is the so-called adjournment of the trial agreement, an alternative to the trial. The prosecutor then agrees not to prosecute if the accused agrees to meet certain requirements. The government has already brought charges against one of the suspects, but has done nothing about it.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada in 2018. The United States accused her of lying about business contacts with an Iranian company that is under US sanctions. For example, it would mislead HSBC about this.

Meng was forced to remain in Vancouver until his extradition to the United States. On Friday, she expressed gratitude outside the courtroom to the Chinese embassy in Canada for its “continued support.”

“My life has been turned upside down in the past three years,” said Huawei’s chief financial officer. “It has been a period of turmoil for me as a mother, wife and business manager. But I believe the sun shines behind the clouds. It has been an invaluable experience.”

Meng’s arrest put significant strains on relations between China on the one hand and the United States and Canada on the other. Soon after the arrest, China arrested two Canadians. One of them, Michael Spavor, was sentenced in August to 11 years in prison for espionage. The two have now been released. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a press conference that the couple will arrive in Canada on Saturday morning (local time).