The US government is expected to begin proceedings to formally extradite Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou (pictured) from Canada, following her arrest in December 2018 over alleged violations of sanctions on Iran.

Speaking to The Globe and Mail, Canada’s ambassador to the US, David MacNaughton, said the US will request Meng’s extradition, as a deadline of 30 January looms.

Meng, who is also the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Vancouver on 1 December and was held for ten days before being released on bail.

She is due to return to court on 6 February: the deadline for filing for extradition is set at 60 days after she was first arrested.

Meng was held at the request of the US government, which suspects she violated US trade sanctions on Iran.

Relations worsen
The Chinese government has warned it will take action against Canada if Meng is not released, as relations between the countries continue to worsen since the arrest.

In comments made to Reuters, China’s foreign ministry reiterated calls for Meng’s release, stating anyone with fair judgement would determine Canada had made a “serious mistake”.

“Canada and the US arbitrarily abused their bilateral extradition treaty to seriously infringe upon a Chinese citizen’s security and legal rights,” said ministry representative Hua Chunying.

Hua also “strongly urges” the US to correct its mistake, cancel the arrest order and not go ahead with a formal extradition request.