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Tech giant Huawei&rsquo;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 &ldquo;hostage diplomacy&rdquo; between the two countries.</p>
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<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/huawei-heir-apparent-prepares-life-after-three-years-canada-court-battle-2021-09-24" target="_blank">Meng</a>, 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.</p>
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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&#39;s arrest, were hugged on the tarmac by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after they landed at Calgary airport.</p>
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&quot;You&#39;ve shown incredible strength, resilience, and perseverance,&quot; &quot;Know that Canadians across the country will continue to be here for you, just as they have been,&quot; Trudeau said in a Twitter post with photos of him welcoming Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.</p>
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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.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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&quot;I&#39;m finally back home. The waiting in a foreign country was full of suffering. I was speechless the moment my feet touched Chinese soil,&quot; Meng was cited as saying by the Global Times, the Communist Party&rsquo;s mouthpiece.</p>
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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 &quot;blurring with tears as she approached the embrace of the great motherland.&quot;</p>
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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.</p>
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However, Chinese media was silent on the release of Spavor and Kovrig.</p>
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China has previously denied engaging in &quot;hostage diplomacy&quot;, insisting that the arrest and detention of the Canadians was not tied in any way to the extradition case against Meng.</p>
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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.</p>
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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.</p>
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&nbsp;Some Republican senators condemned Meng&#39;s release and urged the White House to address the U.S. Congress on the issue.</p>
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Also read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/economy-news/biden-blacklists-more-chinese-firms-us-sticks-to-trump-era-hard-line-101413.html">Biden blacklists more Chinese firms, US sticks to Trump-era hard line</a></p>
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