Arrest of Huawei CFO a declaration of war on China’s economy: U.S. expert

The arrest of Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver airport at the request of the United States is bordering on a declaration of war on China’s business community by the United States, and puts American business people traveling abroad at greater risk of similar actions by other countries, according to an American expert.

In his article “The War on Huawei” published at Project Syndicate by Jeffrey D. Sachs, a professor of sustainable development and health policy at Columbia University, said the arrest of business people from China was a dangerous move by the American government. He said that its intensifying conflict with China, which is backed by Europe’s great powers, is pushing the world toward disaster.

Meng was detained by the authorities in Canada after they were provide with an extradition request by the United States. She has been granted bail, subject to a guarantee of 10 million Canadian dollars (7.5 million U.S. dollars).

Professor Sachs said a large number of companies, both inside and outside the United States, have violated American sanctions against Iran and other countries. For example, JP Morgan Chase paid a 88.3 million U.S. dollar fines in 2011 for breaking American sanctions against Cuba, Iran, and Sudan. And JP Morgan was hardly alone in violating American sanctions: Sachs pointed out that a large number of international financial institutions paid fines for violating American sanctions since 2010, including Bank of America, HSBC, and Banco do Brasil, but in each case it was the the corporation – not individual board members – that was held accountable.

In Sachs’ personal view, the American move against Meng is part of Trump administration’s broader attempt to undermine China’s economy by imposing tariffs, closing Western markets to China’s high-technology exports, and blocking China’s purchases of American and European technology companies.

“When global trade rules obstruct Trump’s gangster tactics, then the rules have to go,” according to Sachs. The professor believes that the Trump administration, not Huawei or China, is today’s greatest threat to international rule of law, and therefore to global peace.