US-China relations: what comes next after release of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou?

Chinese observers say case, and release of two Canadians, shows there is still room for compromise despite ongoing tensions

Some expect movement on lifting tariffs but other issues are likely to be much harder to resolve

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Meng Wanzhou leaves court in Vancouver after being cleared to head back to China. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:20pm, 25 Sep 2021Updated: 5:52am, 25 Dec 2021

The release of Huawei’s finance chief Meng Wanzhou has removed one of the most contentious issues bedevilling China-US relations, but Chinese analysts warned tensions were likely to continue in other areas.

Meng, the daughter of Huawei Technologies Co’s founder Ren Zhengfei, reached a deal with American prosecutors on Friday that effectively ended the fraud case against her and allowed her to fly home from Canada.

It also put an end to a three-year extradition drama between China and Canada, which Beijing blamed for the strained relationship between the two countries as a “willing accomplice” of the US.

Soon after the US dropped an extradition request for Meng, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that two Canadian citizens, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who had been detained in China shortly after Meng’s detention would also be released.

While the detentions were widely seen as an act of retaliation, neither Beijing nor Ottawa publicly linked the two cases on Friday.

US-China relations: what comes next after release of Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou?

Chinese observers say case, and release of two Canadians, shows there is still room for compromise despite ongoing tensions Some expect movement on lifting tariffs but other issues are likely to be much harder to resolve

Chinese observers say case, and release of two Canadians, shows there is still room for compromise despite ongoing tensions

Some expect movement on lifting tariffs but other issues are likely to be much harder to resolve