BEIJING (AP) — The Latest on the arrest of an executive of Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies. (All times local):

China's foreign ministry has demanded Canada release a top executive at Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies who has been detained while in transit, and reveal the reasoning behind her arrest.

Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Thursday that China was in contact over the case of Meng Wanzhou with both Canada and the U.S., which requested her detention on suspicion of trying to evade U.S. curbs on trade with Iran.

Geng also said Meng's legal rights must be ensured. He said neither Canada or the U.S. had so far responded to China's concerns.

Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer, faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. Meng was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, the day President Donald Trump met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Argentina.

China has demanded Canada release a Huawei Technologies executive who was arrested in a case that adds to technology tensions with Washington and threatens to complicate trade talks.

Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, faces possible extradition to the United States, according to Canadian authorities. The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing law enforcement sources, said she is accused of trying to evade U.S. curbs on trade with Iran.

The arrest follows a U.S.-Chinese cease-fire in a tariff war over Beijing's technology policy.

Asian stock markets tumbled on the news, fearing renewed U.S.-Chinese tensions that threaten global economic growth.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said Meng broke no U.S. or Canadian laws and demanded Canada "immediately correct the mistake" and release her. </s> Canadian authorities have arrested the chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies for possible extradition to the United States.

Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Saturday, Justice Department spokesman Ian McLeod said.

Mr McLeod said a publication ban had been imposed in the case and he could not provide further details.

The ban was sought by Meng, who has a bail hearing on Friday, he said.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that US authorities are investigating whether Chinese tech giant Huawei violated sanctions on Iran.

Meng is also deputy chairman of the board and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei. </s> Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on Wednesday said that parties seeking extradition of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou from Canada should ensure the process is not politicized. </s> Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has fired his Chinese ambassador, John McCallum, after the ambassador made several comments regarding the controversial arrest of a Huawei executive in December, saying that she has a strong case to oppose extradition.

Back in December, Canadian authorities arrested Huawei CFO (and daughter of the company’s founder), Meng Wanzhou, who also served on the board of a Hong Kong company, Skycom. That company allegedly did business with Iran, and prosecutors say that because Huawei did business with US banks, she violated US sanctions against the country. Meng was granted bail in a Canadian court shortly after her arrest, and remains in British Columbia while the US attempts to make a case that she should be extradited to stand charges here.

Earlier this week, McCallum said at a news conference that Meng “has some strong arguments that she can make before a judge” when it comes to opposing her extradition, citing statements from US President Donald Trump, and the nature of the sanctions. While McCallum attempted to walk the statements back, but told the Toronto Star that if the US were to drop the extradition request, “that would be great for Canada.”

His statements suggested that the arrests were politically motivated, and have caused considerable headaches for his government as critics have accused him of interfering in the case. The initial arrest has cooled relations between Canada and China, which arrested two Canadian citizens shortly after Meng’s arrest. The deadline for US authorities to file their extradition request comes this week: January 30th. </s> Canada has arrested Huawei's global chief financial officer in Vancouver, where she is facing extradition to the United States on suspicion she violated US sanctions against Iran, the Globe and Mail newspaper reports.

Meng Wanzhou, who is one of the vice chairs on the Chinese technology company's board and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on December 1 and a court hearing has been set for Friday, a Canadian Justice Department spokesman said, according to the Globe and Mail.

Representatives of Huawei, one of the world's largest makers of telecommunications network equipment, could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters.

Officials for the Canadian and US Justice Departments did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

US authorities have been probing Huawei since at least 2016 for allegedly shipping US-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of US export and sanctions laws, sources told Reuters in April. </s> VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The reasons that the United States asked the Canadian authorities to arrest a top executive of the Chinese technology company Huawei last week had been shrouded in mystery.

On Friday, the details of the arrest and what led up to it came out in a Canadian courtroom.

At a bail hearing in Vancouver for Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei and a daughter of the company’s founder, Canadian prosecutors said she was accused of fraud. The heart of the charges related to how Ms. Meng may have personally participated in a scheme to trick American financial institutions into making transactions that violated United States sanctions against Iran, they said.

Ms. Meng had “direct involvement” with Huawei’s representations to banks, said John Gibb-Carsley, an attorney with Canada’s Justice Department.

The hearing shed light on an incident that has rattled the relationship between the United States and China. While changing planes in Vancouver on Dec. 1, Ms. Meng was arrested at the behest of the United States, which has for years looked into potential ties between Huawei and the Chinese government or Communist Party. </s> Ms Meng at a capital investment forum in Moscow in 2014. Huawei's chief financial officer was arrested in Canada on Dec 1 and faces extradition to the US. She is the daughter of the company's founder.

A TOP executive and daughter of the founder of Chinese telecom giant Huawei has been arrested in Canada and faces extradition to the United States, officials said on Thursday, angering Beijing days into a trade war truce with the US.

The detention of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, comes after American authorities reportedly launched an investigation into suspected violations of Iran sanctions by Huawei, which was already under scrutiny by US intelligence officials who deemed the company a national security threat.

The arrest stirred tensions just as the United States and China agreed to a ceasefire in their trade spat while negotiators seek a deal within three months.

News of her detention rippled through stock markets in Asia, particularly Shanghai and Hong Kong, with tech firms among the worst hit. By lunch, Shanghai was 1.3 per cent lower while Hong Kong was 2.6 per cent off.

"China is working creatively to undermine our national security interests, and the United States and our allies can't sit on the sidelines," US Senator Ben Sasse in a statement linking the arrest to US sanctions against Iran.

"Sometimes Chinese aggression is explicitly state-sponsored and sometimes it's laundered through many of Beijing's so-called 'private' sector entities that are in bed with (President) Xi (Jinping)'s communist party," he added.

Ms Meng was arrested in the western city of Vancouver on Dec 1, Canada's ministry of justice said in a statement.

The ministry said the US is seeking her extradition and she faces a bail hearing on Friday, adding it could not provide further details due to a publication ban sought by Ms Meng, whose father, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, is a former Chinese People's Liberation Army engineer.

The arrest occurred on the same day that US President Donald Trump and Mr Xi struck the trade war truce at a summit in Argentina.

"The Chinese side firmly opposes and strongly protests over such kind of actions which seriously harmed the human rights of the victim," the embassy said in a statement.

"The Chinese side has lodged stern representations with the US and Canadian side, and urged them to immediately correct the wrongdoing and restore the personal freedom of Ms Meng Wanzhou."

Huawei said it was unaware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng and was provided "very little information" about the charges.

"Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations where it operates, including applicable export control and sanction laws and regulations of the UN, US and EU," the company said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal reported in April that US Department of Justice had opened an investigation into suspected violations of Iran sanctions by Huawei.

The New York Times said the company had been subpoenaed by the Commerce and Treasury Departments over alleged violations of Iran and North Korea sanctions.

Huawei is not the first Chinese telecoms equipment firm to face the ire of US authorities.

Earlier this year, the US imposed a seven-year ban on the sale of crucial US components to Chinese smartphone maker ZTE after finding it had failed to take action against staff who were responsible for violating trade sanctions against Iran and North Korea.

The ban nearly killed the Chinese tech company, which said it was forced to cease major operations in May. A month later, Washington and Beijing reached a deal that would strike ZTE from the sanctions list - just days after China reportedly offered to ramp up purchases of American goods to help cut the yawning trade imbalance with the US. American officials denied any connection between the two.

In exchange, ZTE agreed to pay a hefty US$1 billion fine and put an additional US$400 million in escrow in case of future violations. It was also ordered to replace its board of directors and retain outside monitors.

The case showed that China is highly dependent on imports of US-made semiconductors or computer chips and reinforced Beijing's need to become self-reliant on this key technology.

Huawei is one of the world's largest telecommunications equipment and services providers.

But despite global success, its US business has been tightly constrained by worries it could undermine American competitors and that its cellphones and networking equipment, used widely in other countries, could provide Beijing with avenues for espionage.

In May, the Pentagon said that devices from Huawei and ZTE posed an "unacceptable" security risk. Personnel on US military bases are banned from buying equipment manufactured by the Chinese tech firms.

Over the summer, Australia barred Huawei from providing 5G technology for wireless networks in the country over espionage fears.

New Zealand followed suit in November, but said the issue was a technological one.

Britain's largest mobile provider too has joined the global ban on Huawei. On Wednesday, BT announced it was removing Huawei's telecommunications equipment from its 4G cellular network, following a warning from the head of MI6 foreign intelligence service that singled out the Chinese company as a potential security risk.

Despite being essentially barred from the critical US market, Huawei surpassed Apple to become the world's number two smartphone maker in the second quarter of this year. AFP </s> Meng Wanzhou was detained at the request of the U.S. during a layover at the Vancouver airport

In this courtroom sketch, Meng Wanzhou, left, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies speaks to her lawyer David Martin during a bail hearing at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, on Monday, December 10, 2018. (Jane Wolsak/The Canadian Press)

President Donald Trump says he would consider intervening in the Justice Department’s case against a top Chinese executive if it would be in the interest of U.S. national security and help forge a trade deal with China.

Trump told Reuters in an interview Tuesday at the White House that if he thinks it would be good for what will “certainly be the largest trade deal ever made” he would intervene if necessary.

A Canadian court granted bail on Tuesday to the top executive of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. She was arrested at the United States’ request in a case that has set off a diplomatic furor among the three countries and complicated high-stakes U.S.-China trade talks.

A Canadian judge is setting a string of conditions on a top Chinese executive facing possible extradition to the U.S. while releasing her on $10 million Canadian-dollar bail.

Meng Wanzhou is required her to wear an ankle bracelet, surrender her passports, stay in Vancouver and its suburbs and confine herself to one of her two Vancouver homes from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Justice William Ehrcke of the Supreme Court of British Columbia says he is satisfied Meng, a well-educated businesswomen with letters of reference, does not pose a flight risk.

Meng is the chief financial officer of telecommunications giant Huawei and also the daughter of its founder. She was detained at the request of the U.S. during a layover at the Vancouver airport on Dec. 1 — the same day that Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping of China agreed to a 90-day cease-fire in a trade dispute that threatens to disrupt global commerce.

READ MORE: Canada-China relations turn icy over arrest of Chinese exec

The U.S. has accused Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. It also says that Meng and Huawei misled banks about the company’s business dealings in Iran.

On Monday, China detained a former Canadian diplomat in Beijing in apparent retaliation.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. </s> VANCOUVER/BEIJING (Reuters) - Canada confirmed on Tuesday that one of its citizens was detained in China but said it saw no explicit connection to the arrest in Vancouver of a top executive at Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co.

Confirmation of the detention came soon after the executive, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, returned to a packed Vancouver courtroom for a bail hearing in a case that has angered Beijing. Canadian analysts had predicted China would retaliate after Meng’s arrest last week at the request of U.S. authorities.

Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, who now works in China for a conflict resolution think tank, was the person detained, two sources said.

Meng, 46, faces U.S. accusations that she misled multinational banks about Huawei’s control of a company operating in Iran, putting the banks at risk of violating U.S. sanctions and incurring severe penalties, court documents said. If extradited to the United States, Meng would face charges of conspiracy to defraud multiple financial institutions, the court heard.

Huawei, which makes smartphones and network equipment, and its lawyers have said the company operates in strict compliance with applicable laws.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said he was “deeply concerned” about the detention of a Canadian, adding that there was “no explicit indication at this moment” that it was linked to the arrest of Huawei’s CFO.

But Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada’s former ambassador to China, asked by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp whether the Kovrig detention was a coincidence, said: “In China there are no coincidences ... If they want to send you a message they will send you a message.”

Concern was also evidenced in Washington where the U.S. State Department is considering a travel advisory for China to caution U.S. citizens, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Meng’s arrest has roiled markets over fears it will exacerbate U.S.-China tensions in trade negotiations that both sides have agreed must be concluded by March 1.

The arrest came in connection with a U.S. investigation into an alleged scheme to use the global banking system to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, according to people familiar with the probe.

China has threatened severe consequences unless Canada releases Meng immediately. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the matter is one for the courts to decide.

Canadian businesses operating in China are starting to feel the chill already, and the signing of one major deal has been postponed, a source said.

China’s Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Public Security did not respond immediately to questions regarding Kovrig’s detention sent via fax. Kovrig works for the International Crisis Group, an independent conflict resolution think-tank which said it was seeking his prompt and safe release.

Tuesday is the third day of bail hearings in a British Columbia court, where a judge will weigh final issues in determining whether Meng should be freed on bail while awaiting extradition proceedings.

Speaking at a Beijing forum on Tuesday, the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, said the government kept constant watch on the safety of citizens abroad, though he did not specifically mention Meng’s case.

“For any bullying that wantonly violates the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens, China will never sit idly by,” state television quoted him as saying.

The Canadian provincial court judge on Monday rolled the proceedings over to Tuesday because he wanted to hear more about who would take responsibility for Meng’s actions if she were released.

Meng’s lawyer David Martin had offered her husband as surety, but the judge and the public prosecutor questioned whether he could perform this duty as he is not a resident of British Columbia.

Huawei is the world’s largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment and second-biggest maker of smartphones, with revenue of about $92 billion last year. Unlike other big Chinese technology firms, it does much of its business overseas.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs demands that Canada and the United States clarify the reasons behind the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, also asking for her immediate release.