RE:RE:RE:Time to Eat CrowCash Tango,
It is a big deal. It’s just not IVN’s big deal. Any retaliation by the Chinese government against Canada would be very narrowly targeted to send the desired message, without wrecking the trade relationship. So, from a general Canadian business perspective, this isn’t helpful for those seeking to generate business within China. But the Company isn’t doing that. They’re providing access for Chinese state miners, CITIC and Zijin, to expand business in DRC and South Africa.
I had previously only read news reports in the Canadian press, without bothering to look at the original RCMP affidavit. The press were mostly sympathetic to Ms. Meng. However, now that I’ve actually read the affidavit, I can’t understand why. Not only did Huawei break US and EU financial sanctions on Iran from 2009 to 2014, they also tried to conceal the fact. Which demonstrates they understood their actions were illegal. This wasn’t an inadvertent error. Ms Meng was on the board of directors of Skycomm, controlled by Huawei. As CFO of Huawei, she can’t claim ignorance. If this ever gets to a jury, Ms. Meng’s best hope is to get sprung on some technicality. It may put Canada in a difficult position, but you can’t just suspend the law when it becomes inconvenient.
I think Ms. Meng does have one defense, albeit not a legal one. Why should she be the only senior executive to get charged with a crime, after so many others were let off the hook, without so much as a slap on the wrist? Under Attorney General Eric Holder, not a single senior American executive or director was ever prosecuted for crimes connected to the 2008 financial crisis. Investigators had plenty of evidence, yet the Obama Administration refused to act. They charged plenty of small fry at the bottom, but everyone at the top got off scot free. For someone who obsessed about being on the “Right Side Of History”, I don’t understand how President Obama, a former lecturer on constitutional law, could have promoted a two tier Justice system, one for the very rich, and another for everyone else. For that reason, I think Ms. Meng can make a valid moral argument, although not a legal one, that she doesn’t deserve to be singled out for special treatment.