The United States joined Canada on Friday in calling on Beijing to release two Canadians detained in what are widely believed to be tit-for-tat arrests related to the high-profile detention in Canada of an executive of a major Chinese corporation. He said he was “deeply concerned by suggestions of a political motivation” for the detention of Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor. The European Union said the “declared motive” for the arrest and detention of Mr. Kovrig and Mr. Spavor “raises concerns about legitimate research and business practices in China”. The United States has sought to extradite Ms. Meng on charges of misleading multinational banks about Iran-linked transactions, putting the banks at risk of violating U.S. sanctions. The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei shipped U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws, Reuters reported in April.

Source: The Hindu December 22, 2018 03:44 UTC