Canada Approves U.S. Extradition Case of Huawei CFO to Proceed

As expected, the Canadian government has approved the U.S. extradition case of Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou, to proceed.

The government stated “Canada is a country governed by the rule of law. Extradition in Canada is guided by the Extradition Act, international treaties and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which enshrines constitutional principles of fairness and due process,” reads a press release.

The final decision was in the hands of the Department of Justice Canada officials, who issued an Authority to Proceed, kicking off the extradition process.

The government said, “the decision follows a thorough and diligent review of the evidence in this case.”

The next move will involve a scheduled BC Supreme Court date for March 6, 2019, at 10AM PT to confirm the issued decision, plus set a date for the extradition hearing.



Meng will remain on bail and subject to her existing conditions as previously set by the court.

The Huawei CFO was arrested in Vancouver back in December, setting off a diplomatic rift between Canada and China, while also causing turmoil for the Trudeau government, as the Prime Minister was forced to fire the Canadian Ambassador to China for speaking out inappropriately regarding Meng’s extradition case.

China took the opportunity to take a jab at the federal government today, essentially accusing Canada of being a hypocrite, reports Reuters:

Asked by a state media journalist if it was contradictory for Trudeau to say he couldn’t interfere in Meng’s case and yet his government be accused of trying to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin case, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he “really liked this question”.

“Of course I think that this is a question that should be asked of the Canadian government,” Lu said.

“In fact on this case you have mentioned, people in Canada are paying it a great deal of attention,” he added. “In fact, not only Chinese and Canadian citizens, but the whole world are extremely interested to hear how the Canadian government answers this question.”