The United States Department of Justice has acted aggressively, and one hopes, on the firmest of legal grounds in obtaining the arrest of a prominent Chinese business executive in Canada on charges of circumventing the law against doing business with Iran.
The U.S. will have a difficult job — make that an impossible job — explaining to the Chinese how it is legal for Canada to arrest a Chinese national in connection with an American campaign to stop trade with Iran.
Canada, acting on behalf of the United States, on Dec. 1 arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of the Chinese firm Huawei, a firm that bids to dominate the next generation of telecom technology. She is also the daughter of the founder of the firm.
To the rest of the world, the Americans’ stepped-up sanctions with Iran are a political jihad of President Trump. The former administration of President Obama successfully engaged its international allies in an agreement to drop sanctions against the Iranians in exchange for a commitment to stop their development of nuclear weapons.
The United States alleges that Ms. Meng helped her company evade U.S. sanctions on Iran as far back as 2009 by falsely telling financial institutions such as HSBC that a Huawei subsidiary, Skycom, was a separate and unaffiliated company.
President Trump ran on a campaign that included a vow to end that agreement with Iran and reinstate sanctions. He has done so.
Ms. Meng was transferring between flights in a Vancouver airport when Canadian authorities took her into custody. She has homes in Vancouver and was able to be released on bail.
The arrest was on a warrant from the United States and takes our trade war with China into a new realm. It’s one in which the United States should tread carefully.
According to the affidavit, Ms. Meng faces “serious charges of fraud involving millions of dollars” in the United States. It could result in substantial jail time if she is convicted.
It is difficult to imagine Ms. Meng being extradited to the United States and tried in an American court, and being imprisoned for a lengthy term here. Every step of this process is going to come across in China as a fresh diplomatic offense.
To the Chinese, who perhaps are more used to seeing law enforcement used as a political tool, the arrest of Ms. Meng looks like the United States is acting to protect American cyber manufacturers who are being outproduced by Huawei.
In evident retaliation, the Chinese have arrested three Canadians. New reports say that detained Canadian ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig is not able to see a lawyer or turn off the lights.
The United States has long upheld the integrity of the legal process. In the past couple of years, law enforcement in America has been tainted. The FBI’s apparent preference in the 2016 presidential campaign for Hillary Clinton and candidate Trump’s encouraging of rally crowds to chant “Lock her up” have ruined the respect that the American justice system commanded.
As a rule, the international sanctions should be handled through diplomatic and trade venues, and criminal arrests of business leaders should be limited to those business entrepreneurs who control their businesses and who are clearly engaged in international criminal enterprises.
First Published December 22, 2018, 11:15 a.m.
