China calls on US to release Meng Wanzhou and stop ‘unreasonable bashing’ of Huawei

The Chinese foreign ministry accused the US of ‘using national power to tarnish and crack down on specific Chinese companies in an attempt to strangle their lawful and legitimate operations’

China’s foreign ministry has called on the US to stop its “unreasonable bashing” of Chinese companies such as Huawei.

On Monday the US charged telecoms giant Huawei with stealing trade secrets. The US department of justice is also seeking to extradite the firm’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou who was arrested in Canada in December.

“As I told high-level Chinese law enforcement officials in August – we need more law enforcement cooperation with China,” acting attorney general Matt Whitaker said on Monday.

“China should be concerned about criminal activities by Chinese companies – and China should take action.”

In response, Geng Shuang, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said the country was “highly concerned” by the charges against Huawei and Ms Meng.

“The Chinese government has all along urged Chinese companies to conduct international economic cooperation on the basis of complying with relevant laws and regulations,” he said.

“At the same time, China asks that all countries provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for the normal operations of Chinese companies.”

“For some time, the US has been using national power to tarnish and crack down on specific Chinese companies in an attempt to strangle their lawful and legitimate operations. Behind such practices are deep political intentions and manipulations.

“We strongly urge the US to stop its unreasonable bashing on Chinese companies including Huawei, and treat them objectively and fairly. China will also continue to uphold the lawful and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.”

Mr Geng said China had “made clear its stern position many times” with regard to the Meng Wanzhou case, and accused the US and Canada of abusing their bilateral extradition agreement by arresting the Huawei executive “for no reason”.

“Such actions seriously violate the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese citizen. Once again we urge the US to immediately withdraw its arrest warrant for Ms Meng Wanzhou, refrain from making a formal extradition request, and stop going further down the wrong path,” Mr Geng said.

“We also urge Canada to take China’s solemn position seriously, immediately release Ms Meng Wanzhou and ensure her lawful and legitimate rights and interests, and stop risking its own interests for the benefits of the US.”