INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
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Huawei's Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada in December
US
officials have confirmed they plan to pursue the extradition of a senior Huawei executive and are expected to soon file a formal request
Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested on 1 December in Vancouver at the request of the US
China has accused both the US and Canada of "arbitrarily abusing" their extradition treaty in this case
The US has 60 days to file a formal demand for extradition, a deadline that will be reached 30 January.The Department of Justice has said
in a statement it will meet all deadlines set by the Canada-US agreement
"We greatly appreciate Canada's continuing support in our mutual efforts to enforce the rule of law," the agency said
On Tuesday, Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland told Bloomberg TV that Ottawa has not asked the US to abandon its bid to have Ms
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying has urged American officials to withdraw the arrest order for Ms Meng and refrain from
moving ahead with the extradition request
Ms Meng's case has led to rising diplomatic tensions between Canada and China, and Canadian officials have been seeking international
support in the spat with the Asian superpower
On Monday, 140 western academics and diplomats sent an open letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping pleading the case of two Canadians,
Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, both suspected of spying, and calling for their release
Mr Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat, and Mr Spavor, a businessman, were both detained in China shortly after Ms Meng's December arrest
A number of China analysts believe that the two men's arrests were a tit-for-tat response to her detention, which Chinese officials have
Ms Meng was released on bail by a Canadian court last month
The US accuses the tech executive of using a Huawei subsidiary called Skycom to evade sanctions on Iran between 2009 and 2014
Both she and Huawei deny those allegations
The case comes amid growing scrutiny in Western countries over Huawei
Concern about the security of the company's technology has been growing, particularly in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany, which
fear its products could be used for spying.Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Huawei chairman Liang Hua warned his company could
shift away from the US and the UK if it continues to face restrictions.The US has banned the company from bidding for government contracts,
and British firm BT recently confirmed that Huawei equipment was being removed from a communication system being developed for the UK's
Huawei has always maintained that it is a private company, owned by its employees, with no ties to the Chinese government.
