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Requirements for Huawei Official's Extradition to US Have Been Met, Canada
Says

Reuters

   Canada's attorney general says the requirements for extraditing Huawei
   Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou to the United States on charges of
   bank fraud have been met, documents submitted in a British Columbia
   court show.

   Meng, 48, was arrested in December 2018 on a warrant from the United
   States, which alleges that she misled the bank HSBC about Huawei's
   business dealings in Iran.

   Meng has been under house arrest in Vancouver since then, fighting
   extradition, and has said she is innocent. Her case has caused a
   diplomatic row between Canada and China, which has demanded that Meng
   be released. China detained two Canadians after Meng's arrest.

   The documents, which were filed last week and released to media Friday,
   are a precursor to the formal hearing on committal, or whether Meng
   should be extradited to the United States. Those hearings will take
   place in April 2021.

   The documents outline the evidence in support of Meng's custody and
   conclude that the test for committal has been met.

   Assessment of charges' potential

   The extradition hearings are not a full trial on the charges laid by
   the United States, the documents state, only whether there is the
   potential for those charges to be found valid.

   "The evidence demonstrates that Ms. Meng deliberately made dishonest
   representations to HSBC in an attempt to preserve Huawei's relationship
   with the bank," lawyers for the Canadian Minister of Justice and
   Attorney General David Lametti wrote.

   "Since Ms. Meng concedes that she is the person sought for prosecution
   for the conduct set out in the extradition request, all of the formal
   requirements for committal are established."

   Huawei declined to comment and pointed instead to its past legal
   submissions on its arguments.

   In May, a judge in British Columbia's Superior Court found that the
   legal standard of double criminality -- meaning that Meng's actions
   could be considered a crime in both Canada and the United States -- had
   been met, dealing a blow to hopes for a quick end to the trial.

   The next hearings, scheduled for August 17-21 in Vancouver, will
   discuss whether the attorney general's assertion of privilege in
   declining to release some documents requested by Huawei relating to
   Meng's initial arrest is valid.

   Hearings for the trial are scheduled to wrap up in April 2021, although
   the potential for appeals of the decision from either side means the
   case could drag out over several years.