China has lodged a "decisive" protest with Canada due to its "persistent promotion" of judicial procedures related to the extradition of Huawei's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Meng Wanzhou.
"The Chinese side has expressed its extreme discontent and decisive protest to the Canadian side due to its persistent promotion of the so-called judicial procedures on the extradition of Ms Meng Wanzhou. Beijing has already lodged stern representations (with Ottawa)," China's Foreign Ministry's spokesman, Lu Kang stated.
The statement comes in the wake of Canada paving the way for a hearing to extradite Meng to the United States, where she is sought for allegedly violating sanctions imposed by Washington on Iran.
Meanwhile, Huawei issued a note on March 2, labelling the allegations put forth by the United States as "politically motivated".
"The allegations of the US side are politically-motivated. The US President (Donald Trump) has repeatedly said that if the case of Ms Meng Wanzhou helps reach a (trade) deal between the United States and China, he will intervene in this case. Despite that, the Canadian Justice Department still decided to issue the relevant order. We are very disappointed by these actions," Sputnik quoted the Chinese giant as saying.
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The telecom company, furthermore, claimed that Meng's actions were not offensive under Canadian law. Hence, the statement claims that Ottawa's authorisation of the extradition violates the dual criminality principle, which is the main requirement for extradition.
"Ms Meng Wanzhou did nothing illegal. The United States abused judicial procedures by initiating criminal procedures and asking for her extradition," Huawei claims.
Meng, who is currently under house arrest, will appear in court on March 6 in Vancouver. The extradition hearing will be scheduled during this appearance on Wednesday. The eventual hearing could lead to the CFO's extradition to New York.
The US Department of Justice had previously announced 13 criminal charges against Huawei, Meng and its affiliates in the United States and Hong Kong. Meng will face trial if extradited to New York.
However, if the Huawei CFO is not found guilty during her extradition hearing, then Canada's Minister of Justice will take the final decision regarding the case.
There has been an ongoing diplomatic standoff between Beijing and Ottawa due to Meng's arrest, with China calling for Meng's return. Beijing has, furthermore, also detained Canadians in its country after the Huawei's CFO's arrest in Canada in December last year.
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