Huawei's Meng to introduce new evidence showing US charges 'groundless;' an opportunity to end case
Huawei's Meng Wanzhou will seek to introduce new evidence this week in fighting to end the extradition case. The new evidence seeks to show the false and misleading arguments made by the US. This could be an opportunity to end the legal battle at its final hearings scheduled for August.
These documents, consisting of emails and other HSBC
records, show there is no evidence of fraud, Huawei said in a statement it sent
to the Global Times on Wednesday. The new evidence is to be introduced to prove
there is no ground to extradite Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer, to the
US.
The 48-year-old senior executive of the Chinese high-tech
firm, who is also daughter of Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested at
Vancouver International Airport on December 1, 2018 at the request of the US. She
faces fraud charges.
US authorities have provided materials concerning a
PowerPoint presentation Meng gave for HSBC in Hong Kong in August 2013, which
is widely considered a key document in proving that Meng lied about Huawei's
relationship with Skycom – a major part of the US fraud allegations against
her.
The new evidence shows that Huawei's control over Skycom was
not kept from senior HSBC executives, Huawei said, noting that internal HSBC
risk-assessments were made based on knowledge of the true facts.
If the new evidence can prove that HSBC and its executives
knew the relationship between Huawei and Skycom, it would have been impossible
for Meng to conduct fraud on this matter, which lays out no ground for the
fraud charges, according to people familiar with the case.
"As the case enters its next phase, Huawei remains
confident in Meng Wanzhou's innocence. We will continue to support Ms Meng's
pursuit of justice and freedom," a Huawei spokesperson said.
By citing Meng's lawyers, some media reports said the
evidence would be fatal to the allegations made by the US. It might lead to the
failure of the US charge of fraud against her.
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