(Adds background on Meng arrest, trial)
By Karen Freifeld
Dec 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice is
discussing a deal with lawyers for Huawei finance chief Meng
Wanzhou that would let her return to China from Canada, a person
familiar with the matter said.
Negotiations between Meng's attorneys and the Justice
Department picked up after the U.S. presidential election a
month ago, the person said, but it is still unclear what kind of
deal could be struck.
Meng, 48, was arrested in Canada in December 2018 on a U.S.
warrant. She faces bank fraud charges for allegedly misleading
HSBC Holdings Plc about Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's
business dealings in Iran, which was subject to U.S. sanctions.
Meng does not think she did anything wrong and therefore is
reluctant to make admissions that she does not think are true,
the person said.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on a possible
deal, said it was conditional on her admitting wrongdoing in the
criminal case.
The source said the negotiations do not appear to be part of
a larger deal with Huawei, which is also facing charges in the
case.
Huawei declined to comment. Justice Department spokesman
Marc Raimondi declined to comment. Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau's office and foreign ministry had no immediate
comment.
The negotiations come after the Trump administration placed
Huawei targeted the Chinese telecoms giant's business worldwide
in an effort to thwart its ambitions to supply next generation
5G networks.
In pressuring other countries to drop Huawei from their
cellular networks, the United States said it was worried its
equipment could be used by Beijing for spying. The company has
repeatedly denied the allegation.
Meng is due back in British Columbia Supreme Court on Monday
as she fights extradition to the United States. Witnesses from
the Canadian border agency and federal police testified for two
weeks in November and face cross-examination.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York and David Shepardson
in Washington; Additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya; Editing
by Stephen Coates and Daniel Wallis)
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)
