BEIJING, China - Relations between China and Canada worsened over the weekend as the fallout over the arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver International Airport last week intensified.
Canada is believed to be acting on behalf of the United States which reportedly is alleging an Huawei subsidiary, SkyCom, has been doing business with Iran, circumventing U.S. sanctions. Huawei denies the charges, and says it is doing nothing wrong.
Meng Wanzhou, the target of the U.S./Canadian action is not only the Huawei CFO, but is also the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei. Her arrest has sent shockwaves throughout China, and indeed was being blamed, at least in part, for intensifying falls on global stock markets this week.
In the latest development Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng on Saturday summoned Canada's ambassador to China, John McCallum.
The Chinese government has also issued a statement to the Canadian government, calling for Meng's immediate release, saying if it didn't, it would face "severe consequences."
Meng has been detained for more than a week, after being arrested on 1 December at the Vancouver International Airport. She was in the process of flying from Hong Kong to Mexico, and was changing planes at Vancouver.
She has been hit with fraud changes, which if convicted could see her jailed for up to thirty years.
On Friday, Meng appeared before a Canadian court in relation to an application for bail, however the hearing ended without a result. It was adjourned until Monday.
The main fear of Meng, Huawei, and the Chinese government is that there will be a move to extradite her to the United States.
