(Adds Meng's details in paragraph six)
By Tessa Vikander and Moira Warburton
VANCOUVER/TORONTO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Huawei Chief Financial
Officer Meng Wanzhou arrived in a Vancouver courtroom on Monday
for the start of a trial to decide whether she can be extradited
to the United States, as China repeated its call for Canada to
release her.
The United States has charged Meng with bank fraud, and
accused her of misleading HSBC Holdings Plc about
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's business in Iran.
Court proceedings show the United States issued the arrest
warrant, which Canada acted on in December 2018, because it
believes Meng covered up attempts by Huawei-linked companies to
sell equipment to Iran, breaking U.S. sanctions against the
country.
Meng, 47, is the daughter of Huawei's billionaire founder
Ren Zhengfei and remains free on bail in Canada. She has said
she is innocent and is fighting extradition in part because her
alleged conduct was not illegal in Canada, an argument known
legally as "double criminality."
Unlike the United States, Canada did not have sanctions
against Iran at the time Canadian officials authorized
commencing with the extradition, her lawyers have said.
Meng wore a dark top with polka dots and sat studiously
examining a bundle of printed notes, her hair pulled back in her
characteristic half pony tail. The courtroom was packed with
only standing room available.
The first phase of the trial will last at least four days,
but legal experts have said it could be years before a final
decision is reached in the case, since Canada's slow-moving
justice system allows many decisions to be appealed.
Meng's legal team is currently only scheduled to call
evidence in the last week of April, and a second phase of the
trial, focusing on abuse of process and whether Canadian
officials followed the law while arresting Meng, is set to
begin in June. Closing arguments are expected in the last week
of September and first week of October.
The case has had a chilling effect on relations between
Ottawa and Beijing and China has called the arrest of Meng, who
has been living in a mansion in Vancouver's exclusive
Shaughnessy neighbourhood since it occurred, politically
motivated.
U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters in December 2018 he
would intervene in Meng's case if it served U.S. national
security interests or helped close a trade deal with China.
Chrystia Freeland, Canada's foreign minister at the time,
quickly warned Washington not to politicize extradition cases.
"The resolve of the Chinese government to protect Chinese
citizens' proper legal rights is firm and unwavering," foreign
ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, told reporters during a daily
briefing. He called Meng's case a "serious political matter".
'SLAM DUNK'
Richard Kurland, a federal policy expert and lawyer who is
not involved with the case, calls Meng's double criminality
argument around the absence of Canadian sanctions against Iran a
sure bet.
"I think the defence has a slam dunk. There are no Iranian
sanctions in Canada and anything (the prosecutors bring up)
that's related to an Iranian sanction in Canada may well be
dismissed," he said.
Soon after Meng's arrest, China detained two Canadians,
former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael
Spavor. China has denied their arrests were related to Meng's
case.
"We are fundamentally convinced of her innocence. We have
confidence in the rule of law ... her trial is critical for the
company," Huawei Canada's Vice President of Corporate Affairs
Alykhan Velshi told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp on Monday.
Meng's legal team argued in November that she could not be
extradited as Canada did not have sanctions against Iran at the
time Canadian officials authorized commencing with the
extradition, meaning her conduct was not illegal.
In response, Canada's attorney general said Meng was
arrested on charges of fraud and misleading HSBC, which is a
crime in both countries.
"As this case is actively before the courts, it would not be
appropriate for the minister to comment," Rachel Rappaport, a
spokeswoman for federal Justice Minister David Lametti, said on
Monday.
(Reporting by Tessa Vikander in Vancouver and Moira Warburton
in Toronto
Additional reporting by Gabriel Crossley in Beijing and David
Ljunggren in Ottawa
Editing by Denny Thomas, Lisa Shumaker and Tom Brown)