Hostages on both sides of the Pacific

Even if the American request for the arrest and extradition of Sabrina a.k.a. Cathy Mèng Wǎnzhōu 孟晚舟 was not intended as a political act, it has become one. Reuters reports:

When asked if he would intervene with the Justice Department in her case, Trump said in an interview with Reuters: “Whatever’s good for this country, I would do.”

“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,” Trump said.

This is getting nasty.

Meanwhile, Meng has been released on bail on the condition that she stay in Vancouver and submit to various forms of surveillance. See Vancouver-based Michael Mui’s tweets for details.

China’s retaliation — the arrest of former Canadian diplomat and analyst for NGO International Crisis Group — is now official:

• “China said a former Canadian diplomat detained in Beijing is working for an organization that is not legally registered and he may have broken China’s foreign non-governmental organization (NGO) law,” reports the Straits Times.
• “The International Crisis Group said on Wednesday that it had received no information from Chinese officials on the detention of its employee, former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig,” reports Reuters.
• China has played this kind of tit-for-tat before: See, for example, this excerpt from a New York Times article: The foreign billionaires, activists and missionaries detained in China (porous paywall):

Missionaries. Corporate investigators. Billionaires. Legal activists…

China has a long history of arresting or holding foreigners for mysterious reasons…

Here are some recent cases of foreigners caught in the cross hairs of China’s opaque legal system.

• It’s not a surprise that a Canadian was arrested rather than an American: Beijing generally feels freer to mistreat foreigners from “less important” countries — I’ve had many experiences trying to help fellow South Africans, as well as Nigerians, Ethiopians, and Australians out of trouble with the government. It’s not pleasant. A recent example of this reported by South African website Ewn.co.za: “Stacey-Lee Bridger says that her 19-year-old daughter Tristan-Lee Niemand has been detained since 16 November. She was arrested for not having a work permit to teach in China.”
• Chinese reactions: China News Center says (in Chinese), “Meng Wanzhou enjoys countless passports — something 99 percent of [Chinese] people would never expect!”
• “Huawei case shows US twists laws at will,” says the China Daily.  
• “For many in China, the arrest of a senior executive from tech giant Huawei on a U.S. warrant is not about laws or sanctions or justice. It is about national pride,” says the Washington Post in an article titled China on Huawei case: Anger, America bashing and iPhone boycotts.
• Some Chinese companies are urging employees to boycott Apple and buy Huawei products, reports CNN. TechNode has a report on one specific Shenzhen-based tech company — LED screen and display hardware manufacturer Menpad — that “is offering subsidies to employees who purchase Huawei smartphones while fining those who buy Apple iPhones.”
• Other reports on Meng and Huawei:
• • Huawei’s deep ties to U.S. researchers face backlash / The Information (paywall)
    “Professor Song-Chun Zhu (朱松纯 Zhū Sōngchún) of UCLA is one of the world’s leading authorities on computer vision. He has won numerous grants, including from the Pentagon—and more recently from Huawei Technologies. Now, Mr. Zhu, who has already received one-third of the $450,000 Huawei grant, says he doesn’t want to accept the rest because of the controversy swirling around the Chinese telecom equipment maker.”
  • China says detained Canadian worked for group that was not legally registered / NYT (porous paywall)
  • Chinese state security is behind detention of Canadian former diplomat Michael Kovrig, employer says / SCMP
  • Huawei CFO Sabrina Meng’s three Hong Kong passports due to name changes, husband confirms with Canadian court / SCMP
  • U.S. weighs China travel advisory linked to Huawei case: sources / Reuters
  • Photos revealing personal life of Huawei CFO Sabrina Meng Wanzhou are given to Vancouver court to show her time in Canada / SCMP
  • Chinese hi-tech researchers ‘told not to travel to US unless it’s essential’ / SCMP
  • Canada working to secure release of ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig detained in China / AFP
  • Ottawa considering increasing China travel risk warnings for Canadians / CTV News
  • China’s Huawei fights US spying allegations on crucial European front / Reuters

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  Correction: it was Reuters, not the BBC that broke the story of Trump suggesting he might use Mèng Wǎnzhōu 孟晚舟 as a bargaining chip.