Huawei CFO arrested in Canada for violating US trade sanctions against Iran

Huawei makes it worse for itself in the US.

| Published: Thursday, December 6, 2018, 11:24 [IST]

Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, has been arrested in Vancouver, Canada. She was suspected to have violated US trade sanctions against Iran, reports The Globe and Mail.

Huawei CFO arrested in Canada for violating US trade sanctions

Huawei has confirmed the news to TechCrunch, saying that Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, will face unspecified charges in the Eastern District of New York, where she changed flights on her way to Canada.

"The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng," a Huawei spokesperson told TechCrunch. "The company believes the Canadian and US legal systems will ultimately reach a just conclusion. 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 EU."

According to the report from The Globe and Mail, Meng who is also Huawei's deputy chairwoman was taken under custody on December 1. The first bail hearing will take place on Friday.

The relation between the US authorities and Huawei has been deteriorating since 2016, and have turned worse as the US-CHina trade war has caught fire. Citing national security concerns, President Donald Trump in signed a bill that will ban government agencies from using Huawei-made products. The same bill was passed for ZTE as well, which also based in China.

Besides, in a recent letter addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US lawmakers have asked Canada to eliminate Huawei from its future 5G plans.

Following the tension between the US authorities and Huawei, the company is forced to presume that major companies like Google might cut ties in the near future. Hence, it would be in the best of company's interest to have a backup plan on the hardware as well as software front. New information reveals that Huawei is planning its own OS that would replace Android in the future. The confirmation comes from Huawei's Mobile Products VP, Bruce_Lee.