HSBC is the 800-pound Gorilla in the Canadian Courtroom that No One is Talking About

 

The prosecution of telecommunications giant Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou on charges of violating U.S. sanctions policies with Iran has been very politicized from the outset and a bellwether in the decline of U.S.-Sino relations in an era of renewed cold war.

Now as the trial is going forward, an 800-pound gorilla in the room is the importance of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, better known by its abbreviation, HSBC, to the case.

Ms. Meng was apprehended in Vancouver, Canada, on December 1, 2018, at the behest of the United States, to be extradited south of the 49th parallel. Since then, she has been battling in court and in the headlines to show that U.S. charges of fraud are unfounded, and that she should be released.

She has been under house arrest in Vancouver for 2.5 years, grinding out endless testimonies, cross-examinations, and now a series of U.S./Canadian v. Meng legal team hearings, in the British Columbia Supreme Court.

We are not a part of this case, it would be inappropriate for us to comment … HSBC provided objective facts to the USDOJ (US Department of Justice) – HSBC, July 16, 2020.

What is so incredible about this high-profile, very Sino-American geopolitical jousting match is how involved HSBC was from the start.

Nevertheless, it continues to fly under, over, through and around Western mainstream media, like the perfect computer-modeled stealth fighter. HSBC and Meng in the same headline? Virtually nada.  (more...)

HSBC is the 800-pound Gorilla in the Canadian Courtroom that No One is Talking About—the Judicial Incubus Weighing on Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou’s Shoulders