Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou waves upon arriving from Canada at Shenzhen Baoan International Airport on Sept. 25, 2021.Jin Liwang/The Associated Press
Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou returned to China after 1,028 days detention in Canada on Saturday, landing at Shenzhen’s Bao’an International Airport on a charter flight arranged by the Chinese government.
Ms. Meng was freed after Huawei reached a deal with U.S. prosecutors, who dropped an extradition request which had trapped her in Vancouver since December 2018. Shortly after Canada lifted restrictions on her, she boarded a flight to Shenzhen.
Wearing a long red dress, Ms. Meng was greeted by medical workers wearing hazmat gear and an adoring crowd on the tarmac at the airport in Shenzhen, where Huawei’s headquarters are based.
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“Sorry to keep you waiting this late, but finally I have come back home,” Ms. Meng said shortly after landing. “After a tortuous more than 1,000 days of waiting I have finally come back to the embrace of my motherland.”
“When I set foot on Chinese soil, I felt the warmth, and I was so thrilled, my motherland, right now I am back to you.”
She thanked her father, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, the government, the people of China, “and everyone who cared for me and helped me.”
“I suffered for three years overseas, every moment of the time I was stranded overseas, I could always feel the strength and warmth of my people and the government.”
She personally thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying he cared for “every Chinese citizen.”
“I will always be proud of being Chinese, and be proud of Huawei,” Ms. Meng added.
She said that she will “strictly follow coronavirus regulations” and wished Chinese people a “happy national day,” which falls on October 1. Following her speech, the crowd on the tarmac sang “Ode to the Motherland” and waved Chinese flags.
A statement by the Huawei executive, written as her plane flew over the North Pole, avoiding U.S. airspace, expressed how her eyes were “blurring with tears” as she approached “the embrace of the great motherland.”
Ms. Meng’s arrival has been hailed as a major victory for China by state media, with the national broadcaster CGTN running special coverage for “Meng’s Homecoming.”
Supporters hold a banner to welcome home Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, ahead of her expected arrival from Canada, at Shenzhen Baoan International Airport on Sept. 25, 2021.ALY SONG/Reuters
Commentators on the broadcast praised Ms. Meng’s perseverance and the government’s role in negotiating her release.
“This is a moment of great happiness and joy, this could not have happened without the strength and support of the Chinese government,” said Victor Gao, a former government adviser and CGTN panelist. “The Chinese government has the wholehearted support of the nation because all of us want to see her come back safe.”
While Chinese media has largely avoided mention of the two Canadians who were detained after Ms. Meng’s arrest, Mr. Gao noted the “surprising, even very comical” situation that Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor flew out of China as Ms. Meng was returning home.
Beijing has always insisted that the detention of the Two Michaels – which Ottawa has denounced as arbitrary and as hostage diplomacy – was not related to Ms. Meng, but their release came hours after the deal allowing her to leave Canada.
Mr. Gao said he hoped that the Canadian people would be as happy to see the return of the Two Michaels as the Chinese are to welcome Ms. Meng home.
The three people at the centre of this incident have been detained for over 1,000 days, with Ms. Meng spending much of that in a mansion in Vancouver, while the Two Michaels spent most of their time in isolation, in cells where they could not turn off the lights.
China has yet to officially address the release of the Two Michaels. In a statement Saturday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that “China’s position on the Meng Wanzhou incident is consistent and clear.”
“Facts have long proved that this is a political persecution against a Chinese citizen with the aim to oppress China’s high-tech companies,” Ms. Hua said. “The ‘fraud’ accusations against Ms. Meng are nothing but fabrication. Even HSBC, which is named as a ‘victim’ by the U.S., has issued documents proving Ms. Meng’s innocence. What the United States and Canada are doing is typical arbitrary detention.”
While the case of the Two Michaels attracted global attention for the political nature of their detention, multiple other Canadians remain imprisoned in China on a variety of criminal charges. Many of them had strict prison sentences imposed in the wake of Ms. Meng’s arrest, most notably alleged drug trafficker Robert Schellenberg, who had a prison term upgraded to the death penalty.
Other countries also have citizens detained in China who they accuse Beijing of holding hostage, including Australia, which has been lobbying for the release of Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun without much apparent progress.