SinoSoldier
Colonel
Let's not be so dismissive of this until Huawei can present its side of the argument. And let's not change the subject to the unrelated Iraq War / 9-11 topics.
Trade War with China
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Let's not be so dismissive of this until Huawei can present its side of the argument. And let's not change the subject to the unrelated Iraq War / 9-11 topics.
SinoSoldier
Colonel
Tentative sources are suggesting that a charge is being placed on Huawei for now, no word of a court date or anything to that matter.
I somehow feel like it won't be interpreted that way in Beijing. Considering the political climate and the backdrop of the trade war and the "truce" it is surprising to see such a move and is a reason for why
Did Trump’s enemies try to derail a trade deal with China?
The arrest of Huawei CFO in Canada for violating US sanctions on Iran has stunned markets and raised questions on who gave this the green light
By DAVID P. GOLDMAN DECEMBER 6, 2018 12:38 PM (UTC+8)
Equity markets fell sharply in Asia after news media reported the arrest in Canada of Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, pending extradition to the United States on charges of violating US sanctions against Iran.
The news has stunned financial market participants and policy analysts, for two reasons.
First, never before has the United States attempted the extraterritorial rendition of a foreign citizen – Meng is a Chinese national – in connection with sanctions violations. It has imposed travel and banking restrictions, but seeking an arrest warrant for this is entirely without precedent.
Earlier this year, the US government banned exports of US computer chips to the Chinese telecommunications equipment ZTE in retaliation for violations of sanctions against Iran, but sought no arrests.
Second, Meng was arrested on December 1, the day that President Trump and his economic team dined with President Xi Jinping and his advisers at the Group of 20 Summit in Buenos Aires. Trump has every interest in striking a deal with China that would enable him to declare some measure of victory in a trade war, and China has shown every indication that it is willing to make concessions to the United States on intellectual property protection, financial market opening and, at least in rhetoric, on industrial policy, while increasing its imports from the United States.
Who ordered arrest?
The question is: Who ordered the arrest, and why?
It is possible that President Trump knew about it and sanctioned the arrest, to be sure. But it is unlikely that the president would escalate the conflict with China with the arrest of a senior executive of China’s flagship high-tech manufacturer on the same day that he sought to de-escalate the trade war.
If Trump did not initiate the arrest, who did? There are two alternative possibilities.
The first is that the order came from administration officials who believe that the United States must provoke a confrontation with Beijing now, before China becomes too powerful to intimidate. Some parts of the permanent bureaucracy and the intelligence community believe that China’s economy is fragile and that an economic war would produce an economic crisis and political instability, perhaps even toppling Xi Jinping.
That view may seem fanciful, but it is argued seriously, for example by some former senior officials of the Trump administration.
The second possibility is that Trump’s enemies in the permanent bureaucracy simply want to prevent the president from negotiating a deal with China that would enhance his image and remove risks to economic growth.
The Trump administration has been uncharacteristically silent about the matter. Trump and his closest advisers have shown no hesitation to comment about China trade matters.
Beijing demands release
The only public comment from an American politician came from Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), who earlier this year fought the Trump administration’s efforts to reach a settlement with ZTE. Rubio “celebrated the arrest” in an email to the website Axios.
The US Department of Justice declined to comment. The sanctions regime against Iran is the responsibility of the Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, now directed by Undersecretary of Treasury Sigal Mandelker, a law enforcement veteran who served in the Bush Administration after the 9/11 attacks and advised Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff during the George W. Bush Administration.
The Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence is a joint project with the Central Intelligence Agency. Undersecretary Mandelker’s predecessor in the position, attorney David Cohen, subsequently became a deputy director of the CIA. Ms Mandelker’s office initiated the administration’s sanctions against ZTE earlier this year. The Wall Street Journal reported on April 25 that the Justice Department was investigating whether Huawei violated American sanctions against Iran.
For its part, China expressed outrage at the arrest, and its embassy in Canada demanded the release of Meng.
Most of all, China’s government was taken by surprise, and is trying to understand what happened and why.
In any case, the Vancouver arrest raises serious issues. If the White House is behind the action, it casts doubt on the administration’s desire to come to any sort of accommodation with China.
Or, if the arrest was initiated by rogue elements in the administration, it would suggest that Trump is having difficulty controlling his own government.
There are more happening behind the scene. On the same day that Meng Wanzhou was arrested, "Zhang Shoucheng, a Chinese-American physicist at Stanford University, died at the age of 55 "after fighting a battle with depression,"". The official police record is a suicide.
Zhang's team verified the existence of the Majorana fermion in 2017, practically waiting in line for a Nobel Prize in Physics. He is near the peak of his career, how would any "depression" have taken over?
The Majorana fermion is a leading candidate to become a major component of a quantum computer. And his venture-capital firm is also investigated under 301.
-fermionum-computing-scientists-have-captured-a-majorana-quasiparticle/
So the question becomes, is it suicide under depression or suicide under coercion?
And then 2 days later, ASML announced that deliveries of chip equipments will be delayed in early 2019, which also means orders to China, because of fire at a supplier.
It is looking more and more like McCarthyism........
Zhang's team verified the existence of the Majorana fermion in 2017, practically waiting in line for a Nobel Prize in Physics. He is near the peak of his career, how would any "depression" have taken over?
The Majorana fermion is a leading candidate to become a major component of a quantum computer. And his venture-capital firm is also investigated under 301.
-fermionum-computing-scientists-have-captured-a-majorana-quasiparticle/
So the question becomes, is it suicide under depression or suicide under coercion?
And then 2 days later, ASML announced that deliveries of chip equipments will be delayed in early 2019, which also means orders to China, because of fire at a supplier.
It is looking more and more like McCarthyism........
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From what I hear it is quite popular for Chinese students to study in Canada. I wonder what would happen if the Chinese government suddenly imposed restrictions on that. Or simply notified their parents that it was a dangerous country to live in.
As for why Canada did it or whatnot. Just remember what I said before. They are part of the Five Eyes network. Why do you think Julian Assange, an Australian citizen, is holed up in the Equatorian Embassy in the UK?
I think this move smells of desperation. Perhaps the neo-cons fear that the pendulum on sanctions might shift once the Democrats take up the House of Representatives in Congress in January and the US legislature becomes grid-locked.
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SteelBird
Colonel
Apparently, the one who ordered the arrest wants to derail the trade deal between the US and China. This person could be Trump's enemy, Trump's campaign or Trump himself. One question comes into my mind, is there any third party (or third country) involved in the arrest? For example a country is facing off the US feels the pressure so it wants to pull in more enemies to fight against the US? More important, what's next?
China should sternly condemn and protest to Canada. Must be ready to retaliate and impose sanctions if necessary, Even murderers cannot be arrested without a formal criminal charge. If China is unable to protect Meng Wanzhou from this belligerent abduction, Chinese cannot reasonably expect Chinese government to protect them overseas. Also it will once again embolden the West to disrespect, abuse and belittle Chinese around the world.
SamuraiBlue
Captain
Regardless it seems as if Ms. Meng had sought a court-ordered publication ban to the Canadian court so no news of why she was arrested will be published until she is extradited to the US or she goes to court.
its good cop bad cop
also possibility canada wants to play trump?
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