After 1030 days! Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, finally returned to China, and the whole incident was sorted out.
Since December 6, 2018, the Meng Wanzhou incident has touched the hearts of many Chinese people, and now this "farce" will finally end with Meng Wanzhou’s innocent return to China.
According to Xinhua News Agency, after unremitting efforts, on September 24th, local time, Ms. Meng Wanzhou left Canada by charter flight, and will soon return to the motherland and reunite with her family.
It is worth mentioning that according to foreign media reports, Meng Wanzhou was released by pleading not guilty, which is essentially different from the imprisonment of Frederick, a former French Alstom executive. In addition, foreign media also claimed that Huawei and Meng Wanzhou did not pay high fines.
Meng Wanzhou gave a short speech after her release. At the end of the speech, she said, "I want to thank my motherland and its people for their support and help. This is the biggest pillar for me to come today!"
Let’s review the context of the Meng Wanzhou incident:
December 1, 2018
Meng Wanzhou was arrested at Vancouver International Airport during a stopover from Hongkong to Buenos Aires, and the United States asked Canada to extradite him.
December 7, 2018
The Canadian court held a bail hearing on this matter.
December 11, 2018
The Canadian court ruled that Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, was granted bail.
January 29, 2019
The United States formally requested Meng Wanzhou to be extradited to Canada.
March 1, 2019
The Canadian Attorney General decided to issue a warrant for the Meng Wanzhou case.
March 3, 2019
Meng Wanzhou has filed a civil lawsuit against the Canadian government, accusing it of "serious violation" of its constitutional rights. Meng Wanzhou’s lawsuits also include the Canadian Border Service Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
March 6, 2019
Meng Wanzhou appeared in court again in Vancouver, and the extradition hearing was postponed until May 8.
May 8, 2019
The High Court of British Columbia reopened the hearing on Ms. Meng Wanzhou’s extradition. This hearing only determines the schedule of the next trial, and will not make a decision on extradition or not. The court finally approved Meng Wanzhou’s application to move to Shaugnessy.
September 23, 2019
Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case was heard again in the High Court of British Columbia, and Ms. Meng Wanzhou appeared in court on the same day.
March 30, 2020
Judges of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada, held a video conference with lawyers representing Meng Wanzhou and Canadian prosecutors on Meng Wanzhou’s extradition to the United States, and decided to postpone another case management meeting to April 27th.
May 21, 2020
The High Court of British Columbia, Canada, said that it would make a ruling on May 27th on the issue of "double criminality" in the case of Meng Wanzhou, an executive of Huawei in China, that is, whether the crime of "bank fraud" accused by the United States against Meng Wanzhou also constitutes a crime in Canada.
May 28th, 2020
The High Court of British Columbia, Canada, announced the first verdict of Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case, and found that Meng Wanzhou, vice-chairman and chief financial officer of Huawei, met the standard of "double criminality", so her extradition case will continue to be tried, and Ms. Meng Wanzhou will stay in Canada to attend the later relevant hearing and wait for the new trial result.
July 23, 2020
Huawei has applied to the Canadian court to suspend the extradition of Meng Wanzhou to the United States.
July 24, 2020
The High Court of British Columbia made public the evidence materials of the next trial of Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case.
August 17, 2020
The High Court of British Columbia held a hearing on the Meng Wanzhou case to discuss the disclosure of evidence information involved.
September 30, 2020 (local time)
Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case ended this round of hearing in Vancouver’s British Columbia High Court, and the presiding judge Heather Holmes did not rule on both sides’ claims.
October 26, 2020
Meng Wanzhou once again appeared in the High Court of British Columbia in Vancouver to attend the hearing of his extradition case.
November 16, 2020
The High Court of British Columbia held another hearing on the Meng Wanzhou case. Ben Chang, a retired officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who was suspected of providing Meng Wanzhou’s electronic device password to the FBI, refused to testify in court.
November 25, 2020
The second-stage court hearing of Meng Wanzhou extradition case continued in Vancouver.
April 21st, 2021 (local time)
A judge of the British Columbia High Court ruled that the extradition hearing of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was postponed for three months.
June 29, 2021
In the British Columbia High Court, the court heard again, and Meng Wanzhou arrived at the court to attend the hearing.
August 4, 2021
The hearing of Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case is held again in Vancouver, Canada, and this case that has attracted global attention is about to enter the final stage.
August 9, 2021
Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case was heard in British Columbia High Court. Meng Wanzhou appeared in court. From that day on, the court heard about "judicial remedies".
August 10, 2021
The trial result of "judicial remedy" for "procedural abuse" in Meng Wanzhou extradition case.
August 13th, 2021 (Vancouver local time)
The defense lawyer representing Meng Wanzhou made a court statement and responded to the reasons put forward by the prosecution for extradition. Defense lawyers pointed out that the evidence submitted by the United States for extradition was "insufficient and extremely unreliable" and the court could not support extradition based on these requests.
On the afternoon of August 18th, 2021 (local time in Canada)
The trial of Meng Wanzhou’s extradition case in the British Columbia High Court was all over, and the judge did not immediately announce the verdict.
September 24, 2021
Ms. Meng Wanzhou has left Canada by charter flight, and will soon return to her motherland and be reunited with her family. At this point, the three-year Meng Wanzhou incident came to an end.