The Case of Ms. Meng Wanzhou: An Escalation from Tariffs?

There are many movers and shakers in today’s sophisticated capitalist society, but not too many’s arrest would apprehend the attention of the world as the current case of Miss Meng Wanzhou. Of course, the publicity garnered by the event isn’t entirely due to Miss Meng herself, the context is the story, the individuals involved are mere pawns with limited influence in their role. In the end, only the moral of the narrative remains significant.

Not everyone knows about the news of Huawei’s heirless that’s being unraveled, no story has been universally told, the too young, and too old have always been spared the drama by their own virtues, as well as, those that have chosen to forsake the mainstream media, and those that have no say in their day to day acknowledgement of information that the so called developed world sways to. The detention of Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer is the talk of towns, of the cities, of places where trade and finance trumps other aspects of life.

 

However, let us not stray and wander away from the context which brought us here. We, dear readers, are the entangled ones of the daedal business world where the case of Ms. Meng Wanzhou has world changing consequences. We, who are in the know about the US and China’s trade tango, are put on edge by the news of the arrest of China’s biggest tech companies’ highest ranking financial officer. We instinctively connected the situation that took place in Vancouver International Airport with Washington D.C., and Beijing, with the ongoing trade war, with the probable repercussions in the business world, and geopolitics.

For the invested reader, the arrest of China’s high profile finance professional means an escalation of tensions between the current trade belligerents, perhaps, as a message from Washington saying, “two can play at that game”. China has had no qualms in detaining people out of mere suspicion or to accomplish an agenda. For example, in October the South China Morning Post reported that a Singaporean banker was detained from leaving Beijing without being given a reason. Then, in November the New York Times reported that Chinese authorities targeted the children, and the ex-wife of a fugitive banker in order to coerce him into custody.

If the case of Ms. Meng is a form of retaliation, it is one that kills several birds with one clandestine shot from afar. Foremost, it hits the image of Chinese impunity in violating US sanctions. Ms. Meng is accused of using an unofficial company called Skycom to access the Iranian market between 2009 and 2014 — dealings that would be in violation of U.S. sanctions, CBC reports. Additionally, it discredits the Chinese Communist Party’s practice in detaining foreign nationals to protect Chinese business interests by bringing the subject into perspective. Huawei itself will be scrutinize about its integrity in doing business. A Forbes co-op has used the Ms. Meng arrest to point towards the questionable practices of Huawei in stealing US technology, and suggests that they were done at the behest of Beijing. Furthermore, the detention of Huawei’s CFO will in effect be a warning to other Chinese professionals of the repercussions of committing legal violations. But, perhaps the most resonant message is that tariffs are not the only means the US is willing to utilize in the trade conflict that many see as escalating.

 

China has also returned the flavour of civilian collateral towards Canada, according to Vice News suggestive headline:

“Detaining two Canadians could be China’s payback for the arrest of Huawei’s CFO”

Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat working with the think tank organization International Crisis Group, and Michael Spavor, an entrepreneur who was key to NBA superstar Dennis Rodman’s visit to North Korea, were both arrested within a week.

 

The plot has surely thickened in the current geopolitical drama. Perhaps the case of Huawei’s heirless will be the part that eventually takes us to the climax, or will there be a plot twist which perpetuated this story even further. How many more seasons till the finale? However, one should keep in mind, no matter how this ends, the result will have greater consequences than the ephemeral dramatic effects of movies and series. The moral of this kind of story has always been consistent, in the end, it will affect us all.