The
context of the arrest of Huawei CFO MengWanzhou - a dangerous move by
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration in its intensifying
conflict with China - matters enormously. The United States requested
that Canada arrest Ms. Meng in the Vancouver airport en route to Mexico
from Hong Kong, and then extradite her to the United States. Such a move
is almost a U.S. declaration of war on China's business community. The
United States, led by an administration intent on asserting America's
dominance over China, is pushing the world toward disaster.
The
United States rarely arrests senior business people, U.S. or foreign,
for alleged crimes committed by their companies. Ms. Meng is charged
with violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Yet, consider her arrest in the
context of the large number of companies, U.S. and non-U.S., that have
violated America's sanctions against Iran and other countries. In 2011,
for example, JP Morgan Chase paid $88.3 million in fines in 2011 for
violating U.S. sanctions against Cuba, Iran and Sudan. Yet Jamie Dimon
wasn't grabbed off a plane and whisked into custody.
And JP
Morgan Chase was hardly alone in violating U.S. sanctions. Since 2010,
the following major financial institutions paid fines for such
violations: Banco do Brasil, Bank of America, Bank of Guam, Bank of
Moscow, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Clearstream
Banking, Commerzbank, Compass, CréditAgricole, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ING,
IntesaSanpaolo, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, National Bank of Pakistan,
PayPal, RBS (ABN Amro), SociétéGénérale, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Trans
Pacific National Bank (now known as Beacon Business Bank), Standard
Chartered and Wells Fargo.
None of the CEOs or CFOs of these
sanction-busting banks were arrested and taken into custody for these
violations. In all of these cases, the corporation - rather than an
individual manager - was held accountable. In light of this record, Ms.
Meng's arrest is a shocking break with practice. Yes, hold CEOs and CFOs
accountable - but start at home in order to avoid hypocrisy,
self-interest disguised as high principle and the risk of inciting a new
global conflict.
Quite transparently, the U.S. action against
Ms. Meng really seems to be part of the Trump administration's broader
attempt to undermine China's economy by imposing tariffs, closing
Western markets to Chinese high-technology exports and blocking Chinese
purchases of U.S. and European technology companies. One can say,
without exaggeration, that this is part of an economic war on China -
and a reckless one at that.
Huawei is one of China's most
important technology companies and therefore a prime target in the Trump
administration's effort to slow or stop China's advance into several
high-technology sectors. America's motivations in this economic war are
partly commercial - to protect and favour laggard U.S. companies. The
U.S. appears to be trying to target Huawei especially because of the
company's success in marketing cutting-edge 5G technologies globally.
The unprecedented arrest of Ms. Meng is even more provocative because it
is based on U.S. extra-territorial sanctions. The U.S. would certainly
not tolerate China or any other country telling American companies with
whom they can or cannot trade. Sourceeglobeandmail.com
