US President Donald Trump said his administration is open to using the arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou as a bargaining chip in ongoing trade negotiations with China.

Iran Press/ America:  Asked by Reuters in an interview if he would intervene in the case, Donald Trump said: "Whatever's good for this country, I would do."

He continued, "If I think it's good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made -- which is a very important thing -- what's good for national security -- I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary."

Trump's comments are unlikely to calm growing fury in China amid repeated claims in the country's state-run media that Meng's detention is politically motivated.

China formally protested to the ambassadors of both Canada and the US over the weekend.

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China's Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Canada and the United States had yet to clarify their reason for arresting the Chief Financial Officer and daughter of Chinese tech giant Huawei’s founder.

As a condition of her release, Meng has agreed to surrender her passports and live in one of her homes in Vancouver. She will also pay for a round-the-clock security detail and wear a GPS ankle bracelet.

In a statement following her release on Wednesday, Huawei said it hoped the US and Canada could finish Meng's case "fairly and in time."

Trump's statement signaled that the arrest of the tech giant's CFO in Canada could play a major role as the US and China continue trade talks, which began December 1 with the meeting of the President and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

The talks are expected to last 90 days, ahead of a March 1 deadline imposed by the Trump administration, after which they have threatened to introduce tougher tariffs if no deal is reached.

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But Meng's arrest shortly after Trump and Xi's meeting alarmed investors and solidified doubts about the already fragile trade truce between the US and China.

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou

Canada arrested global chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies, who now faces extradition to the United States on suspicion she violated US trade sanctions against Iran.

Meng Wanzhou, who is also the deputy chair of Huawei’s board and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on Saturday 1 December, in Vancouver at the request of American law enforcement authorities.  101/ 211 / 202

 

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Huawei executive arrested in Canada for violating US sanctions on Iran

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou