My Take | The long – and political – arm of US law

America is still the world’s policeman. At least that must be how it looks to Patrick Ho Chi-ping and Sabrina Meng Wanzhou. But US justice can be highly selective – just ask fugitive mainland billionaire Guo Wengui. A common thread in all three cases? It’s America’s multiple fronts against China.

Ho, a former Hong Kong home affairs secretary, has been convicted in New York on seven of eight counts of bribery and money laundering over oil rights for CEFC China Energy in Chad and Uganda, involving US$2.9 million.

Meng, Huawei’s chief financial officer and daughter of the mainland telecom’s founder, has been arrested in Vancouver at the request of the US government on suspicion of violating American trade sanctions against Iran.

I leave aside the question of their guilt or innocence and focus only on the political implications.

Ho’s conviction comes as Washington is trying to discredit the “Belt and Road Initiative” and discouraging other countries from joining it. CEFC’s interests in Chad and Uganda are very much part of the BRI in Africa.