BEIJING, May 28 (TMTPost) China-based tech giant Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou will continue to face an extradition possibility after a court ruling said on Wednesday that the fraud the U.S. Justice Department charged her with would also be a crime in Canada.

Meng has been stranded in Canada for over a year since she was detained in early December 2018 by Canadian authorities at the request of the U.S. government upon her landing in Vancouver supposedly for changing flights from Hong Kong to South America.

In a 23-page ruling released Wednesday, Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes said the offence prosecutors in a New York court accused her of committing would be considered a crime in Canada, implying that a key legal test of “dual criminality” for an extradition in accordance with Canadian laws is met.

Holmes said that the essence of Meng’s alleged crime is fraud, not the violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, which does not constitute a crime in Canada since Canada did not participate in the unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S. government on the Middle East country.

“Canada’s law of fraud looks beyond international boundaries,” Holmes wrote in her decision. “Ms. Meng’s approach to the double criminality analysis would seriously limit Canada’s ability to fulfill its international obligations in the extradition context for fraud and other economic crimes.”

She added that while the U.S. sanctions against Iran were not part of Canadian law, those sanctions were not “fundamentally contrary to Canadian values in the way that slavery laws would be.

Meng, 48, a daughter of Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei, was accused of lying to HSBC in Hong Kong about Huawei’s relationship with a company that sold HP computers to Iran, which violated the U.S. sanctions.

Prosecutors alleged that Meng’s false statements put banks at risks of breaking U.S. laws and subsequent economic losses by providing financial services to Huawei.  

However, Holmes’ ruling does not necessarily mean that Meng will be extradited to the United States although it came as a major setback to her. 

Huawei's Response

Huawei Technologies seemed to be caught off guard by the court ruling after they had apparently celebrated on the steps of the court building a few days ago. Meng and her friends and colleagues posed for a group photo in front of the BC Supreme Court, all flashing V or thumbs-up hand signs.

Jiemian, a major Shanghai-based news outlet, reported on Tuesday night that Meng walked free from the court based on false leaks on late Tuesday night (Bejing time), before the court ruling was released on Wednesday.

Huawei expressed its disappointment at the ruling in a statement released on Wednesday. “We always believe Ms. Meng is innocent and will continue to support her bid for a fair ruling and freedom."

The statement added that Meng's legal team will continue to fight for her freedom.  

What’s Next?

As the ruling did not set Meng free on Wednesday, the court hearing will continue.  Holmes said that it would be ultimately up to Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti to decide whether extraditing Meng to the U.S. government would be “unjust or oppressive”.

In accordance with Canadian laws, even if a court decides to extradite an individual to a foreign country, the minister of justice has the power to reverse the decision.

Meng has denied all accusations against her. Her lawyers have argued that her human rights were violated when she was detained in the Vancouver International Airport.

Meng's lawyers have argued the case has been politicalized, by citing U.S. President Donlad Trump's remarks on the case. In mid-December 2018, Trump told Reuters that he could intervene in the case if it would serve U.S. national security interests or help reach a trade deal with China.

Meng’s extradition case, which has strained Canada-China relations, may shape the bilateral ties for years to come. In fewer than two weeks of Meng’s detention, China arrested two Canadians on suspicion of national security risks, who remain in custody. China also suspended importing several agricultural products from Canada, another move described by observers as tit-for-tat retaliatory.

In recent weeks, Chinese diplomats have urged the Canadian government to release Meng immediately and secure her safe return to China, warning that failure to do so would further harm bilateral relations. 

One day before the release of the ruling, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada did not need to apologize for decisions made by the independent Canadian justice system. He argued that there is no political interference in Canada’s court system.