Releasing Meng is the only right choice: China Daily editorial

Meng Wanzhou and her lawyers returned to a Canadian court on Monday to press for her release, arguing that the US fraud charges against her are politically motivated and that US authorities used a misleading summary that cherry picked evidence in requesting her extradition.

Her lawyers argue that she only needs to show supporting evidence to add a new allegation of US abuse of process to the case. The scheduled five days of so-called Vukelich hearings will help the judge to ultimately decide whether there is the possibility that this accusation is valid.

Part of Meng's legal strategy is to prove that the Canadian and US authorities committed abuses of process while arresting her. The Vukelich hearing is not intended to be a detailed examination of this claim, only whether there is a realistic possibility that it can be sustained.

The urgings of Canadian ex-diplomats and former parliamentarians that there be a political settlement to the case shows how rotten the foundations of the charges against Meng are.

Meng was arrested in December 2018 on a warrant from the United States charging her with bank fraud for misleading HSBC about Huawei's business dealings in Iran and causing the bank to break US sanctions.

But her lawyers will submit a PowerPoint presentation which shows that contrary to US allegations, Meng gave HSBC all the information the bank needed, supporting China's understanding that Canada is acting as an accomplice to the US' politically motivated persecution of Meng.

Canada's detaining of Huawei's financial executive officer at the request of its neighbor is part of the US' conspiracy to stigmatize and finally destroy the global telecom giant. It is a part of the US' global strategy to contain the rise of China as a new power that may have the potential to challenge its hegemonic status.

The trumped-up charges against Meng explain why China insists that Canada release her unconditionally.

Canadians have realized that Sino-Canadian relations and healthy development of trade between the two countries are the price the Canadian government is paying for playing the role of a collaborator of the US in its attempt to contain China.

In addition, by getting involved in the US' strategy to contain China, Canada is ruining its reputation as an advocate for justice in international relations.

Independent judicial procedure is anything but a sound and solid reason for the Canadian government to continue its wrongdoing.