Meng Wanzhou spends 1,000th day in detention

Thursday marked the 1,000th day of the detention and prosecution of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested by Canada at the request of the US at the Vancouver International Airport on Dec 1, 2018.

Chinese Ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu called Meng on Wednesday, extended his warm regards and urged Canada to release Meng as soon as possible, according to a statement released by the Chinese embassy in Canada.

"I would like to stress that the Chinese government is determined to protect the just and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and enterprises," Cong told Meng. "We will keep urging the Canadian side to face up to its own serious mistakes and the political nature of the incident, take seriously China's solemn position and the great will of the 1.4 billion and more Chinese people, and make the right decision to release you as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, a group of activists in Canada led by Alan Freeman, the manager of a new website called New Cold War, held a press conference on Thursday and called for a nationwide campaign in Canada to "Free Meng Wanzhou".

Justice Minister David Lametti "ought to use his discretionary power to end this miscarriage of justice by terminating the extradition and pointless house arrest of Meng", according to a statement posted on the website.

"By releasing Meng today, Canada could show a measure of independence of foreign policy and begin to restore friendly political and economic relations with China, Canada's second-largest trading partner, for the mutual benefit of the Canadian and Chinese peoples," according to the campaign.

Meng is accused of misrepresenting the Chinese telecom company's relationship with Skycom in a PowerPoint presentation to the HSBC bank in 2013 and putting the bank at risk of violating US sanctions against Iran. Meng and Huawei have repeatedly denied the accusation.

Earlier this month, Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes of the British Columbia Supreme Court, who is widely expected to give her decision on whether there is enough evidence to convict Meng if the alleged crime had been committed in Canada, questioned the government's final arguments.

"Isn't it unusual that one would see a fraud case with no actual harm many years later and one in which the alleged victim, a large institution, appears to have numerous people within the institution who had all the facts that are now said to have been misrepresented?" she said.

"It's clear to Holmes as well as (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau, his entire cabinet, and indeed the whole world, that Meng Wanzhou has committed no crime, whether in Hong Kong, the USA, or Canada. Moreover, her company, Huawei Canada, has proved to be a good corporate citizen," the "Free Meng Wanzhou" campaign said in the statement.

Holmes will convene a case-management conference on Oct 21 when she will indicate a date on which her decision will be released on committal as well as on the defense's abuse of process application.

Last June, a group of high-profile Canadians, including former parliamentarians and senior diplomats, wrote an open letter to Trudeau, saying the justice minister should end extradition proceedings for Meng to give Canada a chance to "re-define its strategic approach to China".

The 19 dignitaries also commissioned Brian Greenspan, a prominent Canadian lawyer, to write a legal opinion, which found that it was entirely within the rule of Canadian law for the justice minister to terminate the extradition of Meng.