Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou freed as China claims political persecution - The Straits Times

BEIJING - Huawei senior executive Meng Wanzhou returned home to China on Saturday (Sept 25), after she was released in a deal involving China, Canada and the United States.

Shortly after US prosecutors announced that they would end a bank fraud case against her leading to the dropping of extradition proceedings against her in Canada, two Canadians detained in China were freed.

Ms Meng’s release from house arrest in Vancouver drew a line under a case which has been a sore point in relations between Beijing and Washington for nearly three years. 

But the deal opened up US President Joe Biden to criticism that his administration was capitulating to China and one of its top tech firms at the heart of a technological rivalry between the two countries.

Ms Meng left Vancouver on a government chartered Air China flight and minutes after it entered Chinese airspace, the foreign ministry in Beijing released a statement hitting out at the US, denouncing her detention as “arbitrary”. 

“The facts have already fully proven that this is a political persecution of Chinese citizens with the aim of suppressing China’s high tech enterprises,”  a ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said in a statement. “The allegations of ‘fraud’ against Ms Meng were purely fabricated,” Ms Hua added.

But Beijing was silent on the release of the two Canadians – former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor, who were welcomed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as they arrived in Calgary in western Canada. 

“There is going to be time for reflections and analysis in the coming days and weeks,” Mr Trudeau told reporters before the men’s arrival. “But the fact of the matter is I know that Canadians will be incredibly happy to know that right now, this Friday night, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor are on a plane and they’re coming home."

Canadian businessman Michael Spavor (left) and former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig (right). PHOTO: AFP

Ms Meng was arrested at Vancouver International Airport on a US warrant in December 2018, and indicted on bank and wire fraud charges for allegedly misleading banking giant HSBC in 2013 about Huawei’s business dealings in Iran.

The Chinese telecommunications giant, which was founded by Ms Meng’s father, Ren Zhengfei,  has been at the centre of strategic competition between the world’s two largest economies. The behemoth provides 5G telecommunications equipment for much of the world’s developing economies but the US and its allies have raised questions about security, insisting that the firm offers the Chinese government a backdoor to data. 

The firm and its founders have consistently denied such allegations but it has also resulted in several countries pulling Huawei products from their 5G superfast internet rollout plans. 

On Saturday evening, hundreds of people waited for Ms Meng’s flight to arrive at the Bao’an International Airport in Shenzhen, home to Huawei headquarters. Some held up banners while others sang patriotic songs including Me And My Motherland. 

Supporters wait for the arrival of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the Bao'an International Airport in Shenzhen on Sept 25, 2021. PHOTO: AFP

State broadcaster CCTV had rolling coverage of Ms Meng’s return, with the live feed showing dozens of Huawei employees, family and friends holding up Chinese flags and a banner to welcome Ms Meng on the tarmac, cheering as she disembarked clad in a red dress and black kitten heels. 

“After more than a thousand days of hardship, I am finally back in the embrace of the motherland,” she said as she choked up. 

Calling herself an “ordinary Chinese citizen” who has gone through the ordeal of being stuck in a foreign land, Ms Meng especially thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for his concern. 

Across the city, screens flashed “welcome home” messages as buildings were lit up in colour. Hundreds of thousands more tuned into live streams of her return. 

The Canadians were detained on charges of espionage just days after Ms Meng’s arrest. During their time in detention the men had scant access to their lawyers. 

Ms Meng, on the other hand, was monitored at all hours by private security at her own expense and confined to her luxury Vancouver home at night. 

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2021-09-25 15:25:36Z
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Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou leaves Canada after agreement with US over fraud charges - The Straits Times

OTTAWA (REUTERS) - Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou flew home to China on Friday (Sept 24) after reaching an agreement with U.S. prosecutors to end the bank fraud case against her, relieving a point of tension between China and the United States.  

Within hours of the news of the deal, two Canadians who were arrested shortly after Meng was taken into custody in December 2018 were released from Chinese jails and were on their way back to Canada. Beijing had denied that their arrests were linked.  

The years-long extradition drama has been a central source of discord in increasingly rocky ties between Beijing and Washington, with Chinese officials signaling that the case needed to be dropped to help end a diplomatic stalemate between the world’s top two powers.  

The deal also opens US President Joe Biden up to criticism from China hawks in Washington who argue his administration is capitulating to China and one of its top companies at the center of a global technology rivalry between the two countries.  

Meng was arrested at Vancouver International Airport on a US warrant, and indicted on bank and wire fraud charges for allegedly misleading HSBC in 2013 about the telecommunications equipment giant’s business dealings in Iran.  

In an exclusive on Friday, Reuters reported that the United States had reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Meng. Nicole Boeckmann, the acting US Attorney in Brooklyn, said that in entering into the agreement, “Meng has taken responsibility for her principal role in perpetrating a scheme to defraud a global financial institution.”

The agreement pertains only to Meng, and the US Justice Department said it is preparing for trial against Huawei and looks forward to proving its case in court.  

A spokeswoman for Huawei declined to comment.  A person familiar with the matter said Meng – the daughter of Huawei founder, Ren Zhengfei had left Canada on a flight to Shenzhen.  

The two Canadians, businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig, had been held in China for more than 1,000 days. In August, a Chinese court sentenced Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage.  

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in brief remarks late on Friday the two men had left Chinese airspace just minutes before. He was not asked whether the two countries had struck a bilateral deal.  

“I want to thank our allies and partners around the world in the international community who have stood steadfast in solidarity with Canada and with these two Canadians,” he said.  

At a hearing in Brooklyn federal court on Friday, which Meng attended virtually from Canada, Assistant US Attorney David Kessler said the government would move to dismiss the charges against her if she complies with all of her obligations under the agreement, which ends in December 2022. He added that Meng will be released on a personal recognizance bond, and that the United States plans to withdraw its request to Canada for her extradition.  

Meng Wanzhou arrives at British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver on Sept 24, 2021. PHOTO: EPA

Meng pleaded not guilty to the charges in the hearing. When U.S. District Court Judge Ann Donnelly later accepted the deferred prosecution agreement, Meng sighed audibly.  

A Canadian judge later signed Meng’s order of discharge, vacating her bail conditions and allowing her to go free after nearly three years of house arrest.  She was emotional after the judge’s order, hugging and thanking her lawyers.  Speaking to supporters and reporters on the steps of the court afterward, Meng thanked the judge for her “fairness” and talked of how the case had turned her life “upside down”.  

Meng was confined to her expensive Vancouver home at night and monitored 24/7 by private security that she paid for as part of her bail agreement. Referred to by Chinese state media as the “Princess of Huawei,” she was required to wear an electronic ankle bracelet to monitor her movements, which became fodder for the tabloids when it hung above her designer shoes.

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2021-09-25 01:03:54Z
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Canadian court frees Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou as US extradition case ends - The Straits Times

VANCOUVER, NEW YORK (REUTERS, AFP) - A Canadian judge on Friday (Sept 24) signed Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou’s order of discharge, vacating her bail conditions and allowing her to go free after nearly three years of house arrest as her US extradition case ends.

Canadian government lawyers asked the court to withdraw the authority to proceed in her case and discharge her, after Meng reached a deal with US prosecutors earlier on Friday that ended their bank fraud case against her.

The US Justice Department said Friday it has reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Meng, that would avoid a trial and move toward defusing a case that has strained relations with China. 

Meng, who agreed to a statement of facts in the case but did not plead guilty, will see the felony fraud charges against her dropped on December 1, 2022 if she abides by the agreement, a Justice Department attorney told the federal court in Brooklyn, New York.

The executive was arrested at Vancouver International Airport in December 2018 on a US warrant and was indicted on bank and wire fraud charges for allegedly misleading HSBC about Huawei's business dealings in Iran.

The deferred prosecution agreement, reported first by Reuters, pertains only to Meng and US charges against the company remain, according to another person familiar with the matter.

Such a resolution would remove one of several major disputes between the world’s two biggest economies.

The agreement could also potentially pave the way for the release of the two Canadians - businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig - held in China, who were arrested shortly after Meng was taken in custody in 2018.

In August, a Chinese court sentenced Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage.

A spokeswoman for Huawei declined to comment. A spokesman for the US Attorney's office in Brooklyn declined to comment.

An attorney for Meng could not be immediately reached for comment.

Meng has maintained she is innocent and has been fighting extradition to the United States from Canada.

She is confined to Vancouver and monitored 24/7 by private security that she pays for as part of her bail agreement.

Under a deferred prosecution agreement, the government agrees to refrain from prosecuting a defendant for a period of time, and drops the case altogether if the defendant complies with specified conditions.

Huawei, a telecommunications equipment giant, was placed on a US trade blacklist in 2019 that restricts sales to the company for activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests.

The restrictions have hobbled the company, which suffered its biggest ever revenue drop in the first half of 2021, after the US supply restrictions drove it to sell a chunk of its once-dominant handset business and before new growth areas have matured.

The criminal case against Meng – the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei – and Huawei is cited in the blacklisting. 

Huawei is charged with operating as a criminal enterprise, stealing trade secrets and defrauding financial institutions. It has pleaded not guilty. 

Articles published by Reuters in 2012 and 2013 about Huawei, its former subsidiary Skycom and Meng figured prominently in the US criminal case against her.

Reuters reported that Skycom had offered to sell at least €1.3 million (S$2 million) worth of embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran’s largest mobile-phone operator in 2010. At least 13 pages of the proposal were marked “Huawei confidential” and carried Huawei’s logo.

Reuters also reported numerous financial and personnel links between Huawei and Skycom, including that Meng had served on Skycom’s board of directors between February 2008 and April 2009.

Judicial hearings in her extradition case in Vancouver wrapped up in August, with the date for a ruling to be set on Oct 21. 

China v US

Huawei has become a dirty word in Washington, with a knee-jerk reaction by China hawks in Congress to any news that could be construed as the US going soft, despite Huawei being hobbled by US trade restrictions.

Then President Donald Trump politicised the case when he told Reuters soon after her 2018 arrest that he would intervene if it would serve national security or help secure a trade deal. Meng’s lawyers have said she was a pawn in the political battle between the two superpowers. 

Senior US officials have said that Meng’s case was being handled solely by the Justice Department and the case had no bearing on the US approach to ties with China.

During US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s July trip to China, Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Xie Feng insisted that the US drop its extradition case against Meng. 

US officials have acknowledged that Beijing had linked Meng’s case to the case of the two detained Canadians, but insisted that Washington would not be draw into viewing them as bargaining chips.

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2021-09-24 14:38:30Z
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Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on steps to be taken to support the Covid-19 home recovery system - TODAYonline

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2021-09-24 12:43:04Z
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China draws up list of 100 instances of US 'interference' in Hong Kong - CNA

BEIJING: China on Friday (Sep 24) listed more than 100 instances of what it said was US interference in Hong Kong affairs, including President Joe Biden's show of support for a pro-democracy newspaper.

US politicians and officials have denounced China over its tightening control of the former British colony of Hong Kong, especially the imposition of a sweeping national security law last year cracking down on dissent.

"The United States must not tolerate any force that is anti-China and stirs troubles in Hong Kong, or else it will only be lifting a stone to hit one's foot," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular press briefing on Friday.

The ministry posted a list on its website which detailed instances of US interference since 2019, including the signing of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act in 2020 by then-president Donald Trump.

Trump ordered an end to Hong Kong's special status under US law to punish China for what he called "oppressive actions" against the financial hub, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with a guarantee of continued freedoms.

China criticised Biden for calling the closure of the Apple Daily newspaper "a sad day for media freedom" and a sign of "intensified repression by Beijing".

The Apple Daily, a popular pro-democracy tabloid founded by tycoon Jimmy Lai, who is in jail and awaiting trial on national security charges, was forced to fold following a raid by 500 police on its headquarters in June and the freezing of key assets and bank accounts.

Authorities say dozens of the paper's articles may have violated the national security law which critics say has been used to stifle free speech and erode other fundamental freedoms guaranteed in the territory's "Basic Law" mini-constitution.

Chinese and Hong Kong officials deny the charge and say the law has returned order to Hong Kong which was hit by months of sometimes violent pro-democracy, anti-China protests in 2019.

Other US officials named on China's list include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his successor, Anthony Blinken.

The foreign ministry did not explain why the list was released now or whether it would take punitive action against those named on the list.

China passed an anti-foreign sanctions law in June under which those involved in making or implementing discriminatory measures against Chinese citizens or entities could be put on a mainland anti-sanctions list.

Such individuals could then be denied entry into China or be expelled. Their assets in China may be seized or frozen.

Biden last month offered temporary "safe haven" to Hong Kong residents in the United States, allowing what could be thousands of people to extend their stay in response to Beijing's "assault" on Hong Kong's autonomy.

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2021-09-24 10:17:26Z
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China sends fighter jets to show anger at Taiwan over trade deal - The Straits Times

TAIPEI (BLOOMBERG) - China sent two air force incursions close to Taiwan on Thursday (Sept 23), underscoring its displeasure at the government in Taipei's bid to join a regional trade deal.

Twenty-four People's Liberation Army aircraft flew into Taiwan's air defence identification zone, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said in two separate statements. That was the largest number of Chinese planes to enter the zone in a day since June, when China's air force sent 28 aircraft close to Taiwan in the biggest sortie this year.

The flights came a day after Taiwan announced it had requested to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), an 11-nation group that China also applied to join last week.

In the past, Beijing has used large-scale incursions to signal its anger at Taiwan for challenging China's claims to sovereignty over the island democracy.

The dispute was not limited to military manoeuvres, with Beijing and Taipei exchanging barbs over the latter's attempt to join the CPTPP.

"We firmly oppose any official ties between Taiwan and any countries, and firmly oppose Taiwan's accession into any treaties and organisations that are of official nature," Beijing's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular briefing on Thursday.

The Foreign Ministry in Taipei responded by saying China has no right to comment on the Taiwan government's application to join the CPTPP and that the People's Republic of China does not represent the people of Taiwan on the international stage.

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2021-09-24 04:40:22Z
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What is the Pegasus spyware scandal and how is Singapore affected? - CNA

NSO has rejected the claims arising from the data leak, but said it would "continue to investigate all credible claims of misuse and take appropriate action".

The company insisted that Pegasus is only intended for use against criminals and terrorists, and that it only sells to military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies in 40 unnamed countries. These customers have been vetted for their human rights records, NSO said.

But it is not difficult for bad actors to create legitimate-looking shell companies and deceive sellers of such sensitive tools, said Mr Vitaly Kamluk, director of the global research and analysis team (APAC) at Kaspersky.

"It's possible to create someone who will just represent you and look like a legal entity that may be connected to the government," he told CNA on Wednesday (Sep 22).

"Some proofs can even be faked and I'm sure that if you really focus on this, you can find one way or another to become a legitimate customer of the NSO Group. And if you have enough money, you can buy these tools they offer."

NSO has attracted scrutiny since 2016, when the company's software was said to be used against a rights activist in the United Arab Emirates and a journalist in Mexico, the New York Times reported on Jul 18.

In 2018, an investigation conducted by University of Toronto research group Citizen Lab found that some of the phones suspected to be infected were in the UK, US and Singapore. Citizen Lab had also reviewed the work done by Amnesty researchers on the recent data leak.

The Singapore Government said on Sep 13 it is aware of these claims but cannot verify them as no reports have been filed.

"As our findings are based on country-level geolocation of DNS servers, factors such as VPNs and satellite Internet teleport locations can introduce inaccuracies," the Citizen Lab report said.

Because Singapore hosts a number of data centres and is a regional Internet communication hub, Mr Kamluk said, the findings could have pointed to Singapore's Internet infrastructure instead of actual victims living here.

Here's what we know about Pegasus so far:

HOW DOES PEGASUS INFECT A PHONE?

While earlier versions of the software used targeted spear-phishing attacks to gain access to a phone, it has since been made far more efficient, and is able to infect a device even if nothing is clicked on.

Mr Kamluk said Pegasus infects phones through "non-interaction" methods, which means malicious code is sent to a target and breaches the target's device "without any kind of user interactions required".

For instance, Pegasus first creates a fake WhatsApp account, then uses it to make video calls. When an unsuspecting user's phone rings, a malicious code is transmitted that installs the spyware on the phone. The software is installed even if the call is not answered.

Pegasus has apparently begun exploiting vulnerabilities in Apple's iMessage software as well, although Apple on Sep 13 released a fix to rectify this.

Still, Mr Kamluk said Pegasus will likely find new ways to continue exploiting iPhones through other backdoors.

"These vulnerabilities, they (Apple engineers) don't plant them on purpose, for sure, but it's in the fundamental code of our human nature to make mistakes," he said. "We will see new ones come and appear, and Apple will patch again the moment they find this."

When Pegasus is installed on a phone, it could gain administrative privileges on a device, allowing it to do even more things than the device owner.

"It's fully automatic," Mr Kamluk said. "They choose the target and at that moment the operator has full control of the device."

CAN PEGASUS BE IDENTIFIED AND REMOVED?

When Pegasus infects a phone, it hides itself but leaves some traces that can be spotted using specialised software, like the mobile verification toolkit published open source and free by Amnesty, Mr Kamluk said.

But to thoroughly check an iPhone, for instance, users would probably void their warranty as specialists would need to "jailbreak" the phone to check every single thing stored inside, Mr Kamluk continued.

"Of course, NSO Group will improve," he said. "So, everything that is detected right now – all these signs and traces that were picked up by Amnesty International and Citizen Lab – will be changed so that this tool will be blind to future versions of diagnosis (software)."

And because Pegasus burrows deep into parts of a device that require the highest privileges to access, Mr Kamluk said removing it will not be easy as uninstalling an app or stopping a service.

"If the phone is infected, that likely means that it will remain there for a long time. Depending on the exploits they have and the post-exploitation stages, it may actually get deeper and even survive the reboot or total reset of the (phone)," he added.

"Once the phone is breached, I would not recommend to use it to anyone who cares about privacy or security."

WHO ELSE HAS BEEN TARGETED?

Numbers on the leaked list include Mexican reporter Cecilio Pineda Birto, who was gunned down on the street, as well as journalists from CNN, the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and the New York Times.

Two of the targeted phones were owned by Mr Szabolcs Panyi and Mr Andras Szabo, investigative reporters in Hungary who regularly cover government corruption.

Indian investigative news website the Wire also reported that 300 mobile phone numbers used in India, including those of government ministers, opposition politicians, journalists, scientists and rights activists, were on the list.

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS?

The Pegasus leak is likely to spur debates over government surveillance in several countries suspected of using the technology.

The investigation suggests the Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán appears to have deployed NSO’s technology as part of his so-called war on the media, targeting investigative journalists in the country as well as the close circle of one of Hungary’s few independent media executives, the Guardian report said.

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2021-09-23 22:20:00Z
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