(Reported by Sing Tao Daily) Meng Wanzhou, vice chairman and chief financial officer of mainland technology giant Huawei Group arrested in Canada (pictured), attended the bail hearing in the Supreme Court of British Columbia yesterday, Hong Kong time.The prosecution accused her of conducting transactions with Iran through a Hong Kong-registered shell company, Skycom (Skycom Technology Co., Ltd.), in violation of US sanctions against Iran, and conspiring to defraud a number of financial institutions.U.S. prosecutors have requested her extradition to the U.S. for investigation and trial.If convicted, the maximum penalty for each charge is thirty years in prison.The prosecutor said she was a flight risk and asked the judge not to grant her bail.The judge did not issue a ruling and the hearing continued on Monday. Meng Wanzhou is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei.On the 1st of this month, when she was in Vancouver preparing to transfer to Mexico, the Canadian side arrested her at the request of the US side.The incident has raised concerns about Sino-US relations and bilateral trade negotiations.Due to the lifting of the media restraining order, the US side's specific allegations against Meng Wanzhou were exposed yesterday, and the court also confirmed Meng's Chinese nationality.Court documents revealed that a New York court had issued an arrest warrant for Meng as early as August 22.The US learned that she would transit through Canada on the 29th of last month, and asked the Canadian side to take action. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng urgently summoned Canadian Ambassador to China John McCallum yesterday to lodge a strong protest, accusing Canada of detaining Chinese citizens transiting in Vancouver on the pretext of responding to the request of the United States, "seriously violating the lawful and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens.", disregarding the law, inconsistent with reason, and intolerable, the nature is extremely bad." The Chinese side strongly urges the Canadian side to release him immediately, otherwise serious consequences will result, and the Canadian side must bear full responsibility for this. Prosecutor Carsley representing the Canadian government stated in court that from 2009 to 2014, Huawei used Skycom to trade with Iran and do business with Iranian companies.U.S. banks cleared Huawei's financial transactions and inadvertently did business with Skycom, he said.Reuters reported in 2013 that Huawei used Skycom to do business in Iran and tried to sell U.S.-made computer equipment to Iran, in violation of U.S. sanctions. Carsley said that at that time, several financial institutions questioned Huawei in response to the allegations.Meng Wanzhou arranged a meeting with the director of one of the financial institutions. She said that Huawei's business in Iran fully complied with the sanctions of the United States. She also said that the relationship between Huawei and Skycom was a normal business transaction.Already quit. However, Carsley said that Skycom and Huawei are basically a family.Huawei operates Skycom as an informal subsidiary, and Skycom employees use Huawei's email addresses, badges and company stationery.Skycom documents show that the company that bought Skycom in 2009 was also controlled by Huawei until at least 2016.Carsley said Meng's claims to financial institutions constituted fraud.He did not name the financial institution. According to earlier reports from foreign media, Huawei traded with Iran through HSBC. According to the information of the Company Registry in Hong Kong, Skycom was established in 1998, but the company was dissolved in September last year. Its registered address in Tsim Sha Tsui is now another company. The prosecution further pointed out that Meng Wanzhou has not been to the United States since Skycom was investigated by the United States in April last year.In the past, she frequently traveled to the United States because her son was studying in Boston.This means that Meng Wanzhou was "dishonest". After her consciousness was investigated, she deliberately avoided going to the United States.The prosecution pointed out that Meng Wanzhou's father had a net worth of US$3.2 billion (approximately HK$25 billion), and the huge bail amount was just a drop in the bucket for her family.What's more, her home is in China, and neither the United States nor Canada has an extradition treaty, so she is at risk of absconding. It is understood that since the bail hearing is separate from the extradition process, unless she is released on bail, Meng Wanzhou may have to stay in the detention center for several months or even more.Immigration lawyer Li Kelun said that Meng Wanzhou's special status will inevitably lead to a confrontation between China and the United States, and the Canadian federal Liberal government will also face great pressure. Whether it is bail or an extradition hearing, there will be a long delay.
