The Trump administration is open to the idea of using the arrest of Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou as a bargaining chip in the trade talks with China, President Donald Trump indicated on Tuesday.
He further said that he would do “whatever’s good for this country,” responding to a question by Reuters about whether he would intervene in the Justice Department’s case against Meng.
“If I think it’s good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made — which is a very important thing — what’s good for national security — I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary,” the President continued.
However, Trump’s remarks are not likely to calm the tensions provoked by the CFO’s arrest, which Chinese state-run media maintain was politically motivated.
“The U.S. and Canada are undoubtedly abusing their justice systems … Washington should not attempt to use its domestic laws as strategic support for its commercial and diplomatic competition,” an editorial in state media tabloid Global Times said Wednesday, according to CNN.
Over the weekend, China also lodged a formal complaint to the ambassadors of both the U.S. and Canada, where Meng was arrested. The Huawei CFO was detained on December 1 at Vancouver International Airport at the request of the U.S. government, which claims she violated U.S. sanctions on Iran.
On Tuesday, Meng was granted bail by a Canadian court and she is now facing extradition to the United States. In the meanwhile, she will live in one of her Vancouver homes and wear a GPS ankle bracelet.
Following her release on Wednesday, Huawei released a statement saying it hoped the U.S. and Canada could finish Meng’s case “fairly and in time.”
“As we always highlight, Huawei obeys all laws and regulations in the countries where Huawei conducts business, including laws and regulations about export control and sanctions in UN, the U.S., and the EU,” the statement also said.
President Trump’s comments signaled Meng’s arrest could play a major role as the U.S. and China continue trade talks that are to last until March 1. Trump said the White House has already discussed the case with the DOJ and Chinese officials, but stressed he has not yet spoken to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
“They have not called me yet. They are talking to my people. But they have not called me yet,” he said.
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