Detained Huawei CFO speaks out in letter to employees

IANS  |  Ottawa 

Wangzhou, the of Chinese giant who has been detained in since last December, has written to the company's 188,000 employees to thank them for support she says has filled her "with power".

is awaiting a hearing on her possible extradition to the US, where she faces federal charges in for her role in an alleged scheme by to circumvent American sanctions on Iran, reported on Tuesday.

"Every time a court hearing has finished, I have seen employees staying up all night just to follow my case in distant time zones," wrote in a letter that was published Monday on the company's "This has brought me to tears."

The case against Meng was filed amid a broader campaign against the Chinese tech company by the US government, which claims Huawei's networking equipment poses a national security threat.

The company also faces charges in that it tried to steal trade secrets from .

Meng and Huawei have pleaded not guilty across the board.

Meng said in her letter that she had been encouraged by messages of support posted in the Huawei forum and the sight of former employees lining up outside the court in

She was released on $7.5 million bail nearly two weeks after her arrest. She agreed to surrender her passports, live in one of two homes she owns in the city, pay for an around-the-clock security detail and wear a ankle bracelet, reported.

"Despite being physically restricted to a very limited space during my time in Vancouver, my inner self has never felt so colourful and vast," Meng said in the letter.

Her high-profile detention has led to a diplomatic standoff between Canada, and the US, and complicated trade talks between and Beijing, which has called for her release.

Last week, uawei, which is world's biggest maker of equipment, decried "political factors at play during the extradition process", which it said could infringe on Meng's "legitimate rights".

She had filed a civil lawsuit in March accusing Canadian authorities of violating her rights when they first detained her.

Meng's expected to appear at a again in September.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Wed, May 15 2019. 09:02 IST