China tries to rally national pride as it paints Meng Wanzhou’s release as proof the US targeted an innocent woman for political reasons
- State media glosses over a signed admission of wrongdoing – but not guilt – as it celebrates Huawei executive’s return home
- Meng’s case is being painted as a victory for China despite US attempts to suppress the country’s technological advances
The return of Meng Wanzhou to China without legal penalty is being used to shore up nationalist sentiment by feeding up the narrative that Huawei and China were innocent victims of the United States.
Repeating Beijing’s line on the case, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying on Saturday commented in a statement that this was “an incident of political persecution against a Chinese citizen” and there were “materials that are sufficient to prove Ms Meng‘s innocence”.
“The so-called ‘fraud’ charges against Ms Meng Wanzhou are purely fabricated,” she said.
An editorial in People’s Daily, mouthpiece of the Communist Party also emphasised that the Huawei Technologies executive, who was arrested in Canada on a US extradition warrant, had been detained “without violating any Canadian law” and said the case was intended to suppress Chinese tech companies.
“The so-called law cited by the United States and Canada is nothing but a tool to serve the US interests,” the editorial said. “The essence of the Meng case was that the United States tried to obstruct, or even interrupt China’s development process.”