The Huawei executive at the center of an international incident which could determine the future of the US’s trade war with China was seen answering the door at her Canadian residence on Wednesday a day after being granted US $7.4million bail following her arrest for allegedly defrauding investors and flouting American sanctions on Iran.
Meng Wanzhou, 46, smiled as she accepted a large pink orchid from one visitor who arrived at the house in Vancouver in a car bearing consular plates. Her husband, Liu Xiaozong, stood behind her as she greeted the visitors before they disappeared again behind the door. It is one of two, multi-million dollar homes that the couple owns in Vancouver.
She lived in Canada with children from her first marriage but relinquished residency in 2009 despite owning two houses there and continuing to send some her children to the city for summer vacations and schooling.
Wanzhou was granted bail on Tuesday by a judge after being arrested as she changed planes in Vancouver on a US warrant on December 1.
Meng Wanzhou, 46, smiled as she accepted a large pink orchid from one visitor who arrived at the house in Vancouver on Wednesday a day after she was freed on a $7.4million bond
Wanzhou, 46, was cheerful as she waved the visitors off without as her husband Liu Xiaozong stood behind her
She is accused of defrauding US investors and banks by not making plain Huawei’s ties to a subsidiary company called Skycom, a manufacturing company which engaged in transactions with Iran between 2009 and 2014.
Prosecutors say it was Wanzhou who ‘misrepresented’ the company in order to secure US funding and that by doing so, US banks put themselves at risk of violating the sanctions unknowingly.
Her arrest and brief incarceration sent shockwaves through the world’s jittery financial markets which are on teetering on the edge in fear of a full-blown trade war between the US and China.
Chinese officials have condemned Wanzhou’s arrest and insist she has done no wrong. They say she is being unfairly treated and was targeted because Huawei is a world leader.
The company is the second largest smart phones producer on the planet after Samsung. Wanzhou is not only the CFO but the founder’s daughter.
She was released on bail on Tuesday after pleading with a judge to be allowed out to address her ailing health.
‘I continue to feel unwell and I am worried about my health deteriorating while I am incarcerate.
‘I currently have difficulty eating solid foods and have had to modify my diet to address those issues,’ she said in the filing.
After being freed on Tuesday, she took to the Chinese website WeChat to share this message: ‘I am in Vancouver and have returned to be with my family. I am proud of Huawei.
‘I am proud of my motherland. Many thanks to everybody who has cared about me.’
The visitors did not go inside the home but dropped off their gifts and quickly returned to their cars
It is not clear who the visitors were but their Mercedes has consular plates and they were taken there by a driver
One of the men brought a purple orchid and the other was carrying a large bouquet of peonies and roses
The house is one of two that Wanzhou owns in Vancouver which is where some of her children went to school and where she used to live
Wanzhou is pictured leaving the court on Tuesday following three days of hearings. She was arrested on December 1
Her release came after three days of long, eagerly watched hearings. As part of her bail agreement, she agreed to surrender her passports and wear an ankle bracelet.
She has to stay in Vancouver and its suburbs and remain in one of her two houses between 11pm and 6am every day.
After three days of hearings, Meng Wanzhou was released on bail of C$10million (US$7.4million) – on the condition she surrender her two passports and agree to wear an ankle bracelet.
She will have to stay in Vancouver and its suburbs and confine herself to one of her two Vancouver homes from 11pm to 6am.
The chief financial officer and vice chairman of telecommunications giant Huawei – the world’s second largest smartphone maker – had asked for bail in exchange for putting up her husband, children and C$11million (US$8.23million) in real estate as sureties which means they will be responsible for fulfilling her bond amount if she breaks the terms of the agreement.
After her arrest, both President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said they were unaware of the warrant for her arrest.
On Tuesday, Trump said he would become involved in her case if it meant a better trade deal for the US.
‘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 said.
Meng Wanzhou, China’s smartphone heiress who found herself at the heart of global trade disputes
Before her dramatic arrest in Canada, few in the U.S. had heard of Meng Wanzhou.
Meng, 46, is chief financial officer and deputy chairwoman of the board of Chinese telecom company Huawei. She now faces extradition to the U.S. on charges of trying to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, a former Chinese military engineer worth $3.2 billion, according to Forbes magazine. She’s likely his heir apparent. While personal details are scant, she is married and has at least one son and a daughter, Huawei said.
Meng, who takes her last name from her mother, received a master’s degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhun, China, and started in a low-level position at Huawei in 1993 when she in her 20s. That was about six years after the company was founded to sell phone switches.
Since then, Huawei has grown into the world’s biggest supplier of network gear for phone and internet companies.
The company also makes smartphones and has been the second-leading seller for two consecutive quarters, behind Samsung and ahead of Apple, according to IDC. (Apple tends to be strongest in the current, holiday quarter.)
Meng has risen up the ranks as the company has grown. She held a variety of finance and accounting roles, including CFO of Huawei Hong Kong and president of the accounting management department, before taking on her current roles.
According to a company bio, Meng has been involved in a number of Huawei restructuring moves, including centralizing and improving its finance and accounting departments as the company expanded.
She was named to the company’s board in 2011 and named one of four vice chairs this past March.
One of the most persuasive components of her bail application is the fact that she is a thyroid cancer survivor who suffers hypertension, has a sleep disorder and requires daily medication.
BEIJING ARRESTS EX-CANADIAN DIPLOMAT FOR ‘HARMING NATIONAL SECURITY’
Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat who works in Beijing in an NGO, was arrested on Monday
China has confirmed the detention of ex-Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig after denying any knowledge of the case.
Mr Kovrig, who now works for a non-profit organisation, was detained on Monday on suspicion of carrying out activities that harm the Chinese national security, reported BJ News citing authorities.
He is being investigated by the Beijing State Security Bureau, according to the report.
Earlier today, China’s Foreign Ministry said that it had no information about the former Canadian diplomat detained in Beijing in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of a leading Chinese executive.
While declining to confirm the detention of Michael Kovrig, ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the International Crisis Group, where Kovrig is a Hong-Kong-based analyst, was not registered in China and its activities in the country were illegal.
Kovrig was previously a diplomat in China and elsewhere. His current employer said he was taken into custody by the Beijing Bureau of Chinese State Security, which handles intelligence and counterintelligence matters in the Chinese capital, on Monday night during one of his regular visits to Beijing.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale confirmed the detention and said Canada is very concerned.
‘I do not have information to provide you here,’ Lu said when asked about Kovrig. ‘If there is such a thing, please do not worry, it is assured that China’s relevant departments will definitely handle it according to law.’
Because Kovrig’s organisation is not registered as a nongovernmental organisation in China, ‘once its staff become engaged in activities in China, it has already violated the law,’ Lu said.
Lu also repeated China’s demand for the immediate release of 46-year-old Meng Wanzhou, a leading executive with Chinese communications equipment maker Huawei, which has strong connections to the Chinese government and military.
‘Our request is very clear, that is, the Canadian side should immediately release the detained Ms. Meng Wanzhou and to protect her legitimate rights and interests,’ Lu said.