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Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver

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Re: Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver

#101
post #47

A tl;dr to address some of the obvious questions here: In 2013 she set up a Hong Kong shell company called Skycom Tech. That company (attempted to) purchase HP computers from the United States and resell them to Iran. The deal did not involve Huawei products, but many of the documents related to the deal were labeled "Huawei confidential" indicating they created the shell company to conceal their involvement. She bro…

It's kinda scary that the US can do anything about straw purchases. US company sells to HK company, the stuff becomes property of HK company, US should be completely out of the goddamn picture at this point, HK company sells to Iran, done. The US govt must not be able to do anything about the HK company's intention to resell.

Re: Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver

#102

I would not look forward to being an American businessman abroad in China right now. I think we're all used to the fiction that we live in a world that's totally governed by fairness and laws. That's been a pretty useful fiction for a long time, and in (some) of the developed world that's basically been how it's worked. But I really wonder how many shocks this system can take. I would bet money that an important US e…

Seriously. It's this fiction that makes me believe that, despite it's flaws, America (along with other democratic countries) is a beacon compared to the rest of the world. A country locking up a foreigner for breaking their laws is so different than a country locking up said foreigner out of retaliation, which is what I imagine China will end up doing.

> A country locking up a foreigner for breaking their laws

It is absolutely crazy to think that US law should apply worldwide.

The article does not even mention if Wanzhou Meng is US citizen who broke US law in the US.

This case might be retaliation and fear mongering similar to the case of Julian Assange which is pure retaliation and fear mongering.

Re: Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver

#103
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have mixed feelings about this rule because it genuinely feels like the majority of comments come from people who aren't reading most of the article. For example, this article here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18476805 ...is just dominated by people that didn't read to the end. The top complaint is treating the article as if it isn't facetious (it is.) That does get very frustrating. I understand the premi…

"The article mentions that ..." accomplishes the goal of calling out poor comments while taking the high road.

Sure, and I think that works here. But what do you say when the entire comment doesn't make any sense because it was formed from an incorrect view of what the article was really about, like in the example I linked? I guess "do nothing" is the option I choose, still frustrating.

Re: Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver

#104
post #27
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She allegedly broke US law and was in the territory of a country that shares an extradition treaty with the US.

How sure can I be if my company is not breaking any Chinese laws? Would it by fine if I get arrested for breaking those when I'm on a trip to Asia? I'm not saying that Huawei is innocent, I just agree with the downvoted comment that the situation seems ridiculous.

You do not have a right to not be arrested in China. Why would you think that? They can arrest you for any reason at any time if you are on their land.

Re: Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver

#105

I would not look forward to being an American businessman abroad in China right now. I think we're all used to the fiction that we live in a world that's totally governed by fairness and laws. That's been a pretty useful fiction for a long time, and in (some) of the developed world that's basically been how it's worked. But I really wonder how many shocks this system can take. I would bet money that an important US e…

Seriously. It's this fiction that makes me believe that, despite it's flaws, America (along with other democratic countries) is a beacon compared to the rest of the world. A country locking up a foreigner for breaking their laws is so different than a country locking up said foreigner out of retaliation, which is what I imagine China will end up doing.

Yeah, and "thou shalt not make deals with brown people in Persia" is a totally different law from from "thou shalt not collaborate with an imperialist".

Re: Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver

#106

I would not look forward to being an American businessman abroad in China right now. I think we're all used to the fiction that we live in a world that's totally governed by fairness and laws. That's been a pretty useful fiction for a long time, and in (some) of the developed world that's basically been how it's worked. But I really wonder how many shocks this system can take. I would bet money that an important US e…

Seriously. It's this fiction that makes me believe that, despite it's flaws, America (along with other democratic countries) is a beacon compared to the rest of the world. A country locking up a foreigner for breaking their laws is so different than a country locking up said foreigner out of retaliation, which is what I imagine China will end up doing.

The law broken was a US law which 'applies worldwide'. The actual supposed crime occurred in a trade between China and Iran.

No other country could make a law like that and have any success in enforcing it abroad.

Re: Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver

#107
post #47

A tl;dr to address some of the obvious questions here: In 2013 she set up a Hong Kong shell company called Skycom Tech. That company (attempted to) purchase HP computers from the United States and resell them to Iran. The deal did not involve Huawei products, but many of the documents related to the deal were labeled "Huawei confidential" indicating they created the shell company to conceal their involvement. She bro…

It's kinda scary that the US can do anything about straw purchases. US company sells to HK company, the stuff becomes property of HK company, US should be completely out of the goddamn picture at this point, HK company sells to Iran, done. The US govt must not be able to do anything about the HK company's intention to resell.

> The US govt must not be able to do anything about the HK company's intention to resell.

What does that statement mean?

Re: Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver

#108
post #65
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But on general grounds, why a Chinese company should comply with sanctions between US and Iran? And why a fourth country is arresting Chinese citizens violating US rules? I am sure most of us break UAE laws on being with members of opposite gender without a chaperone and even post pictures of class reunions, etc. But I'm not expecting to be arrested for this while visiting, say, Sweden.

Somehow they got the US technology in order to sell it to Iran. I'm no legal expert, but there was probably an assumption during that transaction that they wouldn't be selling it to Iran, which they violated. (which is exactly why this is different than them simply doing business with Iran in the first place)

I believe that is what ZTE was pinged for. There were US chips in the equiptment sold to Iran.

Re: Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver

#109
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. It's this fiction that makes me believe that, despite it's flaws, America (along with other democratic countries) is a beacon compared to the rest of the world. A country locking up a foreigner for breaking their laws is so different than a country locking up said foreigner out of retaliation, which is what I imagine China will end up doing.

The problem is this, you're always violating some law. Even in the US, there are over 20,000 laws and regulations at the federal level alone. In China, there are even more. Any small foreign operator in China naive enough to assert with 100% confidence that they are not in violation of any of those codes is being dangerously foolish. So here's the thing, I actually agree with you. What China will do, they will do out…

I'm curious why you mention "small operators" twice here.

Huawei is a huge player in an inherently global business, complicated by the fact that selling telecoms network equipment necessitates dealing with quasi-state actors in most countries. Anyone playing at the C-level in such a company is definitely well advised around things like FCPA (and its non-US equivalents) and sanctions regimes.

Small operators get the short end of the stick, sure, but Huawei's CFO is not a small operator (and the sad recipient of China's likely retaliation probably won't be, either).

Re: Canada has arrested Huawei’s global chief financial officer in Vancouver

#110

I would not look forward to being an American businessman abroad in China right now. I think we're all used to the fiction that we live in a world that's totally governed by fairness and laws. That's been a pretty useful fiction for a long time, and in (some) of the developed world that's basically been how it's worked. But I really wonder how many shocks this system can take. I would bet money that an important US e…

Seriously. It's this fiction that makes me believe that, despite it's flaws, America (along with other democratic countries) is a beacon compared to the rest of the world. A country locking up a foreigner for breaking their laws is so different than a country locking up said foreigner out of retaliation, which is what I imagine China will end up doing.

USA will go to a foreign country and topple their government for violating US business interests (not laws). Being an American might be OK, but America isn't a beacon for citizens of other countries.
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