China urges release of Huawei executive in Canada

China's foreign ministry complained Monday that the United States and Canada were violating the rights of a senior executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei and called for her release.The first stage of an extradition hearing for chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei's founder, begins Monday in a Vancouver courtroom.

The case has infuriated Beijing, causing a diplomatic uproar and adding tension between China and the United States."It is completely a serious political incident," said foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.He urged Canada to release Meng as soon as possible.

Canada's arrest of Meng in 2018 at the request of the United States shocked Beijing.Huawei is an icon of China's progress in becoming a technology power and has been a subject of U.S. security concerns for years.Beijing views Meng's case as an attempt to contain China's rise.

Meng was detained in December 2018 during a stopover in Vancouver on the same day that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for trade talks.

Prosecutors have stressed that Meng's case is separate from the wider China-U.S. trade dispute, but Trump undercut that message weeks after her arrest when he said he would consider intervening in the case if it would help forge a trade deal with Beijing.

Image Credit: AP