Member-only story
Was Arrest of Huawei CFO a Diversion of President Trump’s Possible Impeachment?
Why Holding Huawei Executive To Ransom Could Go Very Wrong for Trump. With Increasing Evidence to Support His Impeachment.
Huawei CFO’s Meng Wanzhou was detained by Canadian authorities at Vancouver airport while changing planes in transit from Hong Kong to Mexico on Saturday December 1, 2018. Canada did it at the request of the US who allege that Huawei had used a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment to Iran which violated US sanctions.
The US also claim that Meng and Huawei misled American banks about their dealings in Iran. Those charges appear to be on shaky ground, more innuendo, than actual evidence.
News of her arrest shook world markets then and also on Monday, the day of her bail hearing. Fears rose that the US-China trade tension was about to rack up higher. It threatened the truce between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, made on the same day of the arrest.
Trump knew about the arrest and to sit down to agree with a smile to a truce was not good diplomacy.
It makes people less likely to trust you. “What else are you planning? What else have you got behind your back?” Trust between world leaders is fragile. It’s easily damaged or broken.