Tech giant Huawei’s heir apparent Meng Wanzhou arrived in China on Saturday, ending her three-year detention in Canada, the same day two Canadians detained by Beijing on spying charges returned home in what appears to be part of a “hostage diplomacy” between the two countries.
Meng, the daughter of Huawei Technologies founder Ren Zhengfei, was allowed to go home after reaching an agreement with U.S. prosecutors to drop a bank fraud case against her. She was detained in Canada where she was fighting a court battle against being extradited to the US.
At about the time when China rolled out the red carpet for Meng on her arrival in Shenzen, the two Canadians detained by Chinese authorities in a tit-for-tat just days after Meng's arrest, were hugged on the tarmac by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after they landed at Calgary airport.
"You've shown incredible strength, resilience, and perseverance," "Know that Canadians across the country will continue to be here for you, just as they have been," Trudeau said in a Twitter post with photos of him welcoming Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
Meng arrived in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, attired in a patriotic red dress, waving to a crowd of well-wishers who were lined up to greet her before she entered her car on the tarmac, TV footage showed.
"I'm finally back home. The waiting in a foreign country was full of suffering. I was speechless the moment my feet touched Chinese soil," Meng was cited as saying by the Global Times, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV carried a statement by Meng, written as her plane flew over the North Pole to avoid U.S. airspace. Meng said her eyes were "blurring with tears as she approached the embrace of the great motherland."
Meng was detained in December 2018 in Vancouver after a New York court issued an arrest warrant, saying she tried to cover up attempts by Huawei-linked companies to sell equipment to Iran in breach of U.S. sanctions.
However, Chinese media was silent on the release of Spavor and Kovrig.
China has previously denied engaging in "hostage diplomacy", insisting that the arrest and detention of the Canadians was not tied in any way to the extradition case against Meng.
Spavor was accused of supplying photographs of military equipment to Kovrig and sentenced to 11 years in jail in August. Kovrig had still been awaiting sentencing.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden came in for severe criticism from hardliners in Washington who allege his administration is caving in to China on the issue.
Some Republican senators condemned Meng's release and urged the White House to address the U.S. Congress on the issue.
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