INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Meng Wanzhou has said she will contest allegations of fraud
Donald
Trump says he could intervene in the case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou if it helps to avoid a further decline in US relations with
China."Whatever's good for this country, I would do," the US president said.Ms Meng, the chief financial officer of the Chinese telecoms
giant, was granted bail on Tuesday by a Canadian court.She was arrested on 1 December and could be extradited to the US to face fraud
charges linked to the alleged violation of sanctions on Iran.Ms Meng, 46, denies any wrongdoing and has said she will contest the
She is the daughter of Huawei's founder and her detention, which comes amid an increasingly acrimonious trade dispute between Washington and
Beijing, has angered China and soured its relations with both Canada and the US.In an interview with Reuters news agency on Tuesday, Mr
Trump said he would intervene in the US Justice Department's case against Ms Meng if it would serve national security interests or help
achieve a trade deal with China."If I think it's good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made - which is a very
important thing - what's good for national security, I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary," he said
in cash with C$3m in collateral
The judge said that she would be under surveillance 24 hours a day and must wear an electronic ankle tag
She will be unable to go out between 2300 and 0600 and must surrender all passports and travel documents.In the three-day bail hearing in
Vancouver, Ms Meng's lawyers sought to provide guarantees that she would not pose a flight risk if released
The application was opposed by Canadian prosecutors.Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Supporters of Ms Meng gathered
outside the court in Vancouver
US prosecutors say Ms Meng used a Huawei subsidiary called Skycom to evade sanctions on Iran
They allege she had publicly misrepresented Skycom as being a separate company from Huawei
It is also alleged she deceived banks about the true relationship between the two companies.Applause broke out in the courtroom when
Justice Ehrcke granted bail
Ms Meng cried and hugged her lawyers.The judge ordered her to reappear in court on 6 February.After the ruling, Huawei issued a statement,
saying: "We have every confidence that the Canadian and US legal systems will reach a just conclusion."How has China reacted to Ms Meng's
arrestChina, which insists that Ms Meng has not violated any laws, had threatened severe consequences unless Canada released the Huawei
executive.Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng earlier summoned both the US and Canadian ambassadors and lodged a "strong protest" urging her
release.The ministry described Ms Meng's arrest as "extremely nasty".Image copyrightEPAImage caption
Ms Meng is chief
financial officer of Huawei, the world's second-biggest smartphone maker
Separately on Tuesday, it emerged that a Canadian
former diplomat had been detained in China.Michael Kovrig's current employer, the International Crisis Group, said it was working for his
There has been no official word from China about his whereabouts.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada was in direct contact with
Chinese authorities concerning the case.Mr Kovrig previously worked as a diplomat in Beijing, Hong Kong and at the UN in New York.Canadian
officials said there was no "explicit indication" of any link between Mr Kovrig's reported detention and the arrest of Ms Meng.Who is Meng
WanzhouMeng Wanzhou joined Huawei as early as 1993, when she began a career at her father's company as a receptionist.After she graduated
with a master's degree in accountancy from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 1999, she joined the finance department of
Huawei.She became the company's chief finance officer in 2011 and was promoted to vice-chair a few months before her arrest.Ms Meng's links
to her father, Ren Zhengfei, were not public knowledge until a few years ago.In a practice highly unusual in Chinese tradition, she adopted
her family name not from her father but her mother, Meng Jun, who was Mr Ren's first wife.
