Huawei's Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, has been released and returned to China. He has been detained since late 2018 by Canadian authorities at the request of the United States. Meng's release made US President Joe Biden criticized by some senators.
Marco Rubio, a Republican senator, said that Meng's release puts Joe Biden's ability into question in the face of threats from China as well as Huawei. He even asked the Biden administration to explain it before Congress.
"The release of Ms Meng raises serious questions about President Biden's willingness and ability to confront the threats posed by Huawei and the Chinese Communist Party," Rubio said.
He said this signaled Biden's approach to Beijing was too soft. Meanwhile, Senator Jim Risch called this incident a victory for China.
The voice from the Chinese side is of course the opposite, that from the first Meng Wanzhou was detained for no reason so that he deserved to be released. They also considered this a signal from Biden to improve relations with China, which had not yet improved.
"By approving Meng's return to China, the Biden administration is signaling that it hopes to clean up the mess left by the Trump administration," said Wu Xinbo of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University.
Meng's release was the result of back-and-forth negotiations between America - Canada - China. From the results of these negotiations, China also released 2 Canadian citizens from detention on charges of espionage, namely businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Korvig.
Hours after Meng Wanzhou flew back to China, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that 2 Canadians had been released and were on their way home with Canada's Ambassador to China Dominic Burton.
Meng Wanzhou's detention relates to allegations of fraud against HSBC Bank and wire fraud, in which she is accused of concealing business ties with Iran by Skycom, a Huawei subsidiary.