By David Kirton and David Stanway
SHENZHEN / TORONTO (Reuters) – Huawei CFO Meng Manzhou arrived in China on Saturday, ending a nearly three-year extradition dispute, the same day two Canadians held in Beijing for more than 1,000 days have returned home, which can break the ice in relations between the two countries.
Meng, daughter of Huawei Technologies founder Ren Zhengfei, was allowed to return home after reaching an agreement with U.S. prosecutors on Friday to end the fraud charges against her. The deal resulted in the cancellation of a U.S. extradition hearing in a Vancouver court the same day.
The extradition drama that has lasted for years has been a central source of disagreement between Beijing and Washington. Chinese officials have signaled that the process should be withdrawn to end a diplomatic standoff.
Chinese state media on Saturday welcomed Meng to his “motherland”, calling the bank fraud allegations unfounded.
But the Chinese press has been silent about Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, the two Canadians released from China’s detention in a seemingly reciprocal act from Beijing.
Detained by Chinese authorities just days after Meng’s arrest, they were also released hours after Meng, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
(By David Kirton in Shenzhen and David Stanway in Shanghai; Additional reporting by Yew Lun Tian in Beijing and Denny Thomas in Toronto)
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