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China welcomes Huawei executive home, but silent on freed Canadians
Chinese state media welcomed telecoms giant Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, back to the “motherland” on Saturday, after more than 1,000 days under house arrest in Canada, on what they called unfounded charges of bank fraud.
But they have kept silent about Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, the two Canadians released from Chinese custody in an apparent act of reciprocation by Beijing.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV carried a statement by the Huawei executive, written as her plane flew over the North Pole, avoiding U.S. airspace.
Her eyes were “blurring with tears” as she approached “the embrace of the great motherland”, Meng said. “Without a strong motherland, I wouldn’t have the freedom I have today.”
Meng was arrested in December 2018 in Vancouver after a New York court issued an arrest warrant, saying she tried to cover up attempts by Huawei-linked companies to sell equipment to Iran in breach of U.S. sanctions.
After more than two years of legal wrangling, she was finally allowed to leave Canada and fly back to China on Friday, after securing a deal with U.S. prosecutors.
Huawei, founded by Meng’s father Ren Zhengfei, said in a statement that it “looked forward to seeing Ms. Meng returning home safely to be reunited with her family.” It said it would continue to defend itself against U.S. charges.
Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, detained by Chinese authorities just days after Meng’s arrest, were released a few hours later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said.
State news agency Xinhua formally acknowledged the end of Meng’s house arrest on Saturday, attributing her release to the “unremitting efforts of the Chinese government”.
Hu Xijin, editor in chief of the Global Times tabloid backed by the ruling Communist Party, wrote on Twitter that “international relations have fallen into chaos” as a result of Meng’s “painful three years”.
He added, “No arbitrary detention of Chinese people is allowed.”
However, neither Hu nor other media have mentioned the release of Spavor and Kovrig, and reactions on China’s Twitter-like Weibo social media platform have been few and far between.
The foreign ministry has not commented publicly.
China has previously denied engaging in “hostage diplomacy”, insisting that the arrest and detention of the two Canadians was not tied in any way to the extradition proceedings against Meng.
Spavor was accused of supplying photographs of military equipment to Kovrig and sentenced to 11 years in jail in August. Kovrig had still been awaiting sentencing.
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Terrorist threats to US interests from Afghanistan, Pakistan steadily rising: USIP
Following the concerns over terrorist threats from Afghanistan, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) says in a report that terrorist threats against US interests from Afghanistan and Pakistan are steadily rising.
The report stated that “Afghanistan presents growing space for terrorist groups compared to the period before the U.S. withdrawal.”
“ISIS-K [Daesh] presents a rising threat with reach beyond the immediate region, greater than during the pre-withdrawal period,” the report reads.
It added that “The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist group has also returned as a regional security threat.”
“The study group’s final report evaluated and put forth policy options to mitigate terrorist threats and safeguard U.S. interests in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while maintaining the current focus on strategic competition,” the report added.
“Unfortunately, the geography of Afghanistan and the relations of terrorist groups in the region have caused the countries of the region and the world to express concern about possible challenges. The Islamic Emirate should take measures to form an inclusive government so that the spirit of the regional fight against terrorism is practically strengthened and launched,” said a military expert.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate has called the report “baseless” and said that it has no relationship with al-Qaeda and that Daesh has been suppressed in Afghanistan.
IEA’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fetrat added that there is no terrorist group in Afghanistan and the government does not allow Afghan soil to be used against other countries.
“The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly said that Afghanistan’s soil will not be used against the interests of countries. Once again, we assure the countries of the world and the region that Afghanistan’s soil will not be used against their interests, nor is Afghanistan a threat to them,” Fetrat stressed.
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Afghan prisoner stabs inmate to death in Delhi
An Afghan prisoner in Delhi stabbed another prisoner to death on Friday after a dispute over food, the Times of India reported.
The deceased was identified as Deepak Soni, who was 29-year-old.
The killer has been identified as Abdul Basir Akhundzada who is 44 years old.
Abdul Basir Akhundzadeh had been arrested in connection with a case of attempted murder in Lajpet Nagar area of New Delhi in 2019.
Soni had been arrested in connection with the case of robbery and murder in 2018.
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Afghan consul general in Mumbai Zakia Wardak resigns
Zakia Wardak, Afghanistan’s consul general in India’s Mumbai city, resigned on Saturday, following reports of gold smuggling.
The Times of India has reported that Wardak was caught at Mumbai airport with 25 kilograms of gold smuggled from Dubai.
While announcing her resignation, Wardak said on X that over the past year, she had encountered numerous personal attacks and defamation not only directed towards her but also towards her close family and extended relatives.
“These attacks, which appear to be organized, have severely impacted my ability to effectively operate in my role and have demonstrated the challenges faced by women in Afghan society who strive to modernize and bring positive change amidst ongoing propaganda campaigns,” she said.
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