Huawei’s CFO was arrested in Canada, according to a new report in The Wall Street Journal.
Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver while transferring flights, according to the publication. Meng Wanzhou is reportedly the CFO and deputy chairwoman of Huawei—as well as the daughter of Ren Zhengfei, Huawei’s founder.
The United States is working to extradite Meng Wanzhou from Canada, according to a Canadian official, for alleged violations of Iranian sanctions, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The situation appears to heighten tensions between the United States and China. The two countries are embroiled in a trade dispute; most recently President Trump reportedly is working on an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China’s Huawei—the world’s largest supplier of wireless networking equipment—has played a starring role in the brewing trade war between the United States and China. U.S. officials have argued that the company’s equipment could create a backdoor into U.S. telecom networks for Chinese spies.
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As a result, U.S. officials have worked to prevent U.S. telecom companies from selling Huawei smartphones and installing Huawei equipment. And perhaps more importantly, U.S. officials have urged other countries to ban telecom companies from purchasing Huawei equipment.
Specifically, the governments of Australia, Japan, the U.K., Germany and, most recently, New Zealand have all taken steps against products from Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE. Most recently, the U.K.’s BT said it plans to remove Huawei equipment from its core network.
Huawei’s troubles have opened a $5 billion opportunity to the company’s rivals, including Ericsson and Nokia.