Meng Wenzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese technology company Huawei, has returned to China from Canada after reaching an agreement with a US prosecutor to end a bank fraud case against him.
According to the British news agency Reuters, this development has eased tensions between China and the United States. Just hours after the new agreement, two Canadians arrested in December 2018, just days after Meng's arrest, have been released from Chinese prisons and are returning to Canada. ۔
Beijing has denied any involvement in the arrests.
The case has been a source of tension in Sino-US relations for years, with Chinese officials signaling that the case should be dropped to end the diplomatic standoff between the world's two major powers.
Meng was arrested at Vancouver International Airport and charged with bank fraud.
He was accused of misleading HSBC Bank about Iran in 2013.
The United States has reached a prosecution agreement with Meng, Reuters reported on Friday. Nicole Boeckmann, acting US attorney in Brooklyn, said:
The U.S. Department of Justice says it is preparing a trial against Huawei and will prove its case in court. A Huawei spokesman declined to comment.
Two Canadian businessmen, Michael Sparrow and former diplomat Michael Corrig, have been held in China for more than 1,000 days. In August, a Chinese court sentenced Spawar to 11 years in prison for espionage.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the two men had left China. "I want to thank our allies and colleagues around the world who have stood firm with Canada and these two Canadians. ۔ '
Meng virtually attended the hearing in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Kessler said the government would drop the charges against him if it complied with the agreement, which expires in December 2020.
Meng denied the allegations during the hearing. Meng sighed loudly when U.S. District Court Judge Ann Donnelly later accepted the prosecution agreement.
A Canadian judge later signed Meng's release order and allowed him to travel freely for three years.
Meng Wenzhou became emotional after hearing the judge's decision, and hugged his lawyers and thanked them.
