In late September, Meng Wanzhou stepped off the Air China plane in Shenzhen to a hero’s welcome. It was the triumphant return of an innocent Chinese tech executive from wrongful imprisonment by the West. The truth is far different.
Meng, a Chinese national, was on Canadian soil in 2018 when the Trump administration began extradition procedures against her as part of a fraud case against both her and her employer, Huawei, for potentially violating U.S. trade sanctions on Iran. In Canada, the imprisonment which she called “an abyss” amounted to wearing an ankle bracelet and enjoying an extended stay in the city of Vancouver, where she, Huawei’s CFO, was free to explore the city by day, while living in her own home there, taking classes in painting and lessons in English.
