Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications company Juawei, was arrested in Canada for violating sanctions that were imposed on Iran.
In response, Senator Marco Rubio is arguing that Wanzhou should be extradited to the Unites States, saying that “The arrest of Huawei’s CFO by the Canadian government for potential violations of Iran sanctions is welcome and I urge prompt extradition to the U.S. Huawei has direct ties to the Chinese government and Communist Party, has long posed a serious risk to US national security, and I continue to strongly urge Canada to reconsider Huawei’s inclusion in any aspect of its 5G development, introduction, and maintenance.”
This week, Senator Rubio continues to assert that companies like ZTE and Huawei, both companies directed by the Chinese regime, pose a threat to American security.
He asserted that “both Huawei, ZTE and multiple other Chinese companies pose a threat to our national interests — our national economic interests, and our national security interests. And the Huawei case, what they’re accused of here, what she’s accused of, is violating the Iran sanctions. So at a minimum, we should be doing to them what we did to ZTE when they violated the sanctions law. Which included not having access to American suppliers. And I hope that’s what will happen. That’s what we’re encouraging the administration to do as soon as possible.”
Rubio also explained that "We have to understand, Chinese companies are not like American companies. We can’t even get Apple to crack an iPhone for us in a terrorist investigation. There isn’t a single company in China that doesn’t have to do whatever the government tells them to do. They are legally required to do it, and trust me if they don’t do it, they’ll find a new CEO to run that company, or a new company to take that company’s place. When the Chinese ask a telecoms company, ‘We want you to turn over all the data you’ve gathered in a country you’re operating in,’ they will do it. No court order, nothing like that, they will just do it. They have to. We need to understand that."
The Senator has been consisted in introducing legislation this years going after Chinese telecommunication companies.
