Beijing detains Canadian as tensions soar over exec arrest

A top Huawei executive facing US accusations of Iran sanctions violations was granted bail in Canada on Tuesday, hours after a former Canadian diplomat was said to have been detained in China, intensifying a diplomatic standoff between the North American allies and Beijing.

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, faces extradition to the United States, where she is wanted for allegedly violating Iran sanctions, but Beijing has expressed outrage over her detention and is holding a former Canadian diplomat in China, intensifying the row.

"The risk of (Meng's) non-attendance in court can be reduced to an acceptable level by imposing the bail conditions proposed by her counsel," a judge in Vancouver said, prompting the courtroom packed with her supporters to erupt in cheers.

The list of strict conditions of her release pending the outcome of the extradition case is lengthy, and includes the surrender of her passports and electronic monitoring.

She was expected to be released shortly, and will be allowed to stay at a luxury home owned by her husband Liu Xiaozong in Vancouver.

US President Donald Trump said he may intervene in the American case against her to further the trade relationship with China.

"If I think it's good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made -- which is a very important thing, what's good for national security -- I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary," he told Reuters.

In a statement, Huawei said it is confident the Canadian and US judiciaries will "reach a just conclusion in the following proceedings."
"As we have stressed all along, Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations in the countries and regions where we operate, including export control and sanction laws of the UN, US and EU."