Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou leaves the British Columbia Supreme Court with her security team, in Vancouver, Canada, on Tuesday. A  Canadian police officer refused to testify at Meng's latest extradition hearing, which sparked more suspicions, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday noted the essence of the case became much clearer -- politics.

 

No matter how hard Canada tries to hide the truth and mislead the public, it won't be able to shrug off its own responsibilities in the detention of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, as the more it tries to hide, the more it will be exposed, making people realize the essence behind Meng's detention, a spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. 

We noticed relevant reports about a Canadian police officer refusing to testify at Meng's extradition hearing, and such a move only sparks more suspicions and makes the essence of the case much clearer, which is about politics, spokesperson Zhao Lijian told a press briefing on Wednesday. 

"I'd like to ask those Canadian politicians who claim so-called 'coercive diplomacy' all the time. How can they remain silent on those suspicious points, and deceive and mislead the Canadian people?" the spokesperson asked. 

Meng was arrested at Vancouver International Airport in December 2018 by Canadian authorities at the request of the US for allegedly violating US law. She faces fraud charges, and the US Justice Department announced in January 2019 that it would formally seek her extradition to the US.

The extradition hearing resumed on Monday in Vancouver, with more suspicious and contradictory points emerging, according to people with knowledge of the matter. 

For instance, Ben Chang, a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman (RCMP), refused to testify at the hearing, which is a "matter of some concern," according to media reports. According to documents previously filed in the case, Chang was the head of the RCMP's financial integrity unit at the time of Meng's arrest at Vancouver's airport on December 1, 2018, according to local media cbc.ca.

Also at Tuesday's hearing, Sanjit Dhillon, the Canada Border Services Agency Superintendent who questioned Meng, told the court that he spent five to 10 minutes reading a Wikipedia article, which "gave rise to suspicion" that Huawei could be involved in subverting the Canadian government and that Meng might be a security risk, the South China Morning Post said. 

"Isn't he willing to raise concerns about national security? What is the real purpose of his operation at the airport?" a source close to the legal proceeding told the Global Times, noting that examining Meng for hours at the airport could have served to gather "evidence" for the US. 

"We urge Canada to act in the same direction as China and correct its mistakes by properly handling Meng's case, and make efforts for China-Canada ties to go back to the normal track," Zhao said.