Canada’s China envoy John McCallum says Huawei executive has good chance of avoiding U.S. extradition
Published January 23
Canada’s envoy to China John McCallum says top Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has a good chance of winning a Canadian court case to avoid extradition to the United States on allegations of banking fraud relating to U.S. sanctions against Iran.
Speaking at a news conference for Chinese-language media in Markham on Tuesday, Mr. McCallum took the extraordinary step of offering legal advice to Huawei’s chief financial officer, who Canada arrested last month at the request of U.S. law enforcement authorities.
Mr. McCallum, who last year stated that Canada has more in common with China than the United States under Donald Trump, told reporters Tuesday that the extradition request has two serious flaws, including the American president’s suggestion last month that he could intervene in the Meng case if it helped trade talks with Beijing.
“I think she has quite good arguments on her side,” he said. "One, political involvement by comments from Donald Trump in her case. Two, there's an extraterritorial aspect to her case, and three, there's the issue of Iran sanctions which are involved in her case, and Canada does not sign on to these Iran sanctions. So I think she has some strong arguments that she can make before a judge,"
Mr. McCallum’s extraordinary comments contrast with statements by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland who insist the Canadian government will not interfere politically in the Meng legal case and that it should be should be left to the judicial system to resolve.