China demands Canada release Huawei executive arrested in Vancouver

British Telecom said this week that it would stop using Huawei equipment in its 5G network, the BBC reported, and USA lawmakers have lobbied Canada's prime minister to freeze out the Chinese supplier.

Meng, one of the vice chairs on the company's board and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on December 1 at the request of USA authorities and a court hearing has been set for Friday, a Canadian Justice Department spokesman said.

"And they took this decision without any political involvement or interference".

"If you look at various reports from the United States government agencies, you can see that regulations have been tightened up significantly in past few months", added Mr Campling.

Chinese authorities have demanded the immediate release of Ms Meng and say she has done nothing wrong.

Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters Thursday that the Chinese government also wants Canadian officials to reveal the reasoning. Meng was detained in Vancouver on Saturday, the day presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Argentina and announced their deal.

Huawei said it was unaware of any wrongdoing by Meng and was provided "very little information" about the charges. "The company believes the Canadian and USA legal systems will ultimately reach a just conclusion", the statement continued.

"Huawei complies with all applicable laws and regulations where it operates, including applicable export control and sanction laws and regulations of the UN, US, and European Union", he added.

The US and Canadian governments haven't specified what charges Meng faces. The Justice Department also believes Huawei is violating US sanctions against Iran because of the American components inside its products.

The end of iPhone sales growth is a major factor here-Apple was this year displaced as the world's second-biggest smartphone producer by, you guessed it, Huawei-but again the trade war is lurking in the periphery.

Huawei is one of the world's largest telecommunications equipment and services providers. President Trump has agreed to postpone planned tariff hikes on Chinese goods, while China has pledged to purchase a "very substantial" amount of American produce and curb the export of deadly opioid Fentanyl to the U.S. in exchange.

The arrest in Canada of a top Chinese technology executive for possible extradition to the United States has roiled markets and cast doubt on a recent U.S.

The White House says Trump and his close aides were not aware the U.S. planned to place an extradition request for Meng ahead of his dinner with Xi on Saturday.

China has demanded her release, calling the arrest a human rights violation.

In April, the sources told Reuters the U.S. Justice Department probe was being handled by the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn.

For years, Washington has alleged the Chinese government could compel the company to tap into its hardware to spy or disrupt communications - a fear that's now elevated as the world prepares to upgrade to 5G, a new wireless technology that'll connect more items like self-driving cars and health monitors to the Internet.

David Mulroney, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said US and Canadian business executives could face reprisals in China.

Faced with this explosive report, Huawei first denied the story, calling the report "unfounded".

Why is Huawei a concern to the West?

Most countries, even close US allies such as Canada, Britain and Germany, have not made any moves against Huawei, arguing they have sufficient procedures to test equipment for security. The CFO's arrest could be regarded back home as an attack on one of China's foremost corporate champions.

Bolton also declined to discuss specifics over Meng's arrest, saying it was a matter for law enforcement.

"This is really not good for the Chinese-Canadian Trade relationship", Sui Sui, a Canada-China trade expert and professor at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management, told Yahoo Finance Canada. Trump restored access after ZTE agreed to pay a $1 billion fine, replace its executive team and embed a USA -chosen compliance team in the company.