The ruling comes after China reportedly detained a former Canadian diplomat in Beijing.
ADVERTISEMENTIn a case that has drawn international attention amid heightened trade tensions between the U.S. and China, a Canadian judge granted bail Tuesday to a top Chinese telecom executive, whom the U.S. has accused of trying to circumvent trade sanctions against Iran.Vancouver Justice William Ehreke granted conditional freedom for Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of telecommunications giant Huawei and daughter of its founder, if she can post $10 million bail in Canadian funds ($7.5 million U.S.) — with at least $7 million Canadian ($5.2 million U.S.) in cash.Her lawyers had offered to put the family's two Vancouver homes, worth $21.9 million Canadian ($16.3 million U.S.) up for collateral.Meng's legal team had also told Ehreke that she'll foot the bill for GPS monitoring and round-the-clock guards.
The 46-year-old executive was taken into custody by Canadian authorities, on behest of the U.S. on Dec. 1 as she was changing planes in Vancouver.Canadian prosecutors on Friday first revealed details of the U.S. case against Meng, accusing her of misleading banks to believe her company had no connections to Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech, which allegedly tried to sell American computer equipment to an Iranian mobile phone company.Such a move would violate U.S. sanctions on the sale of American goods to Iran, prosecutors said.Meng told U.S. banks that the two companies are separate operations, but American investigators believe Skycom works as subsidiary of Huawei, according to Canadian prosecutors.U.S. authorities are working to extradite Wanzhou to New York. She faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.
Meng's arrest has raised tensions between China and its North American economic rivals, the U.S. and Canada.