China and Huawei Face a Determined US, Europe, and World Commercially, but the Pope Has Already Made His 'Munich' Deal with the Red Dragon

CHINA IS ON THE FRONT PAGE AROUND THE WORLD THIS WEEK. And not for anything good. • • • CAN THE VATICAN RECOVER CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA? Gatestone Institute published on Sunday an article by Lawrence A.Franklin -- the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, who also served on active duty with the US Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. He is also a practicing Catholic. The article notes that : "With a recent agreement signed between the Vatican and China's regime, Pope Francis surrendered partial control of the Chinese Catholic Church to the Chinese Communist Party. The Pope agreed to grant the Party considerable authority over personnel matters. After decades of refusing to give China the right to appoint Catholic bishops, as a condition for normalization of relations, the Vatican finally conceded to the regime's demand to allow the CCP a decisive role in the selection of bishops to head Catholic dioceses. The Vatican's concession came despite the CCP's continued persecution of the unofficial, independent, underground Catholic Church in China....The Church's consenting to fold its independent political posture into the Chinese regime's Communist Party apparatus gives Beijing the authority to appoint bishops politically acceptable to the CCP. In granting China this right, the Vatican implicitly is recognizing the legitimacy of the regime's CCP instrument to infiltrate and control Roman Catholicism in China, which is the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA). Pope Francis has also reinstated several pro-regime bishops whom the Vatican had once excommunicated because they willingly agreed to follow Communist China's directives, while forsaking their loyalty to the Church in Rome. Finally, the Holy See's bureaucracy also accepted Beijing's demand to reduce and restructure the Catholic Church's 137 dioceses across China. This last Vatican concession may shred the religious authority of several bishops secretly appointed to some of these eliminated dioceses by Pope Francis and previous popes. For almost 70 years, after the CCP's successful takeover in China, Catholics have either attended churches approved by the government's Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association or churches aligned with the Vatican. Some Catholics even attend Mass in private homes to avoid surveillance by agents of the regime. After a series of recent meetings between the Holy See and China's State Administration for Religious Affairs, Pope Francis dispatched a delegation in mid-December to meet with leading bishops of the pro-Vatican 'Underground Church' and Chinese government officials....The delegation included the Vatican's President-Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli. The Archbishop carried a document signed by the Holy See's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and by Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The delegation's Papal directive instructed at least two prominent Catholic bishops of the "Underground Church" to retire or share their official duties with bishops approved by the CCP....The decision by the Vatican not to publish the letter, however, may suggest that the regime is also demanding that the Holy See break relations with Taiwan before it can normalize diplomatic ties to China. This supposition is based on the character of Beijing's previous agreements establishing bilateral relations with other countries, including Panama. Other countries that cut ties to Taiwan in order to open up embassies in China include the tiny African country of São Tomé and Príncipe as well as El Salvador. The prerequisite that states desiring formal ties with China must first sever formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan rests on Beijing calls its 'One China' policy." • As Lawrence Franklin wrote : "The Vatican may learn the hard way that that the Communist Chinese government does not honor its agreements. Beijing may attempt to extort even more concessions from the Vatican, just as the Chinese regime demands ever more surrender of sovereignty from western companies that do business in China. It is also highly dubious that the Vatican will purchase peace by this pact : the regime will continue to persecute the Church. If the Communist regime is true to form, thousands more crosses will be taken down from Christian churches, especially in areas that have a high Christian population. The courageous elders of Chinese Catholicism, who have endured decades of government persecution and regime efforts to divide the Church, may be seen by their flocks as having been bypassed by the Vatican. Many, if not most, Chinese Catholics are likely to view this agreement as a cynical political betrayal by the Vatican rather than a faith-based decision....It is clear from Beijing's anti-Catholic harassment campaign that the Communist Party leadership is determined to co-opt, if not destroy, the independence of the Church in China. Regime harassment includes the dispatch of internal security police to strip churches of their statues, and the removal of crosses from steeples. Sometimes bibles are confiscated if seen in public. Masses are often celebrated in private homes to avoid being monitored by the state. On one occasion in early 2018, an entire Catholic Church was demolished, prompting a street demonstration by parishioners." • Retired Cardinal of Hong Kong Joseph Zen bitterly critiqued the agreement as "an incredible betrayal," tantamount to giving "the flock to the wolves." The China Director of Human Rights Watch, Sophie Richardson, stated that "the Pope has effectively given Chinese leader President Xi Jinping a stamp of approval when the latter's hostility to religious freedom couldn't be clearer." Lawrence Franklin says : "The only likely benefit that the Vatican could derive from this Munich-style pact with the Chinese regime may be an official invitation to Pope Francis to visit China....The courageous elders of Chinese Catholicism, who have endured decades of government persecution and regime efforts to divide the Church, may be seen by their flocks as having been bypassed by the Vatican. Many Chinese Catholics, realizing that their hierarchy was reluctantly fused by the Vatican into a union with the state-controlled church, might retreat into private homes to attend Catholic services. Many, if not most, Chinese Catholics are likely to view this agreement as a cynical political betrayal by the Vatican rather than a faith-based decision. The eminent American Catholic author George Weigel sums up the Vatican's past failed policies of negotiation with totalitarian regimes : 'In light of this dismal record, it seems that prudence and caution would seem to be the order of the day in Vatican negotiations with the totalitarians in charge in Beijing, at whose most recent Party Congress religion was once again declared the enemy of Communism.' " • • • PRESIDENT TRUMP TAKES A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO CHINA. American Thinker's Peter Skurkiss reported last week that a quick survey of news from around the world show the screws are tightening on China : "First, news broke that Chinese tech company Huawei is now likely to face a criminal probe for stealing trade secrets from T-Mobile. This case is the result of civil lawsuits files against Huawei, primarily one where a Seattle jury found the Chinese company guilty of misappropriating robotic technology from T-Mobile. Although the judgment was a modest $4.8 million, it set a precedent for the Justice Department to use Huawei's behavior that was previously outlined in civil lawsuits as a basis for possible criminal prosecution. Second, Chinese trade negotiators have offered a deal to go on a six-year buying spree to ramp up imports from the US with a combined value of over one trillion dollars over that period. This will, it is claimed, reduce the trade deficit to zero. So far, the Trump administration is cool to the offer for being not enough and not addressing the matter of intellectual property theft. Also, there is concern regarding what the Chinese might want to buy. Advanced technologies would be off the table. There is also constant concern about China keeping its promises. So for, the Red Dragon's record is not good. Third, the US campaign to shut Huawei out of Western markets took another step forward when it was reported that Germany is considering banning Huawei products from its coming 5G networks over security concerns. If Berlin follows though, it will be a major blow to Huawei and would affect 3G and 4G networks, too. Germany is one of that company's largest market outside of China with Dusseldorf being Huawei's European headquarters. Fourth, the European Union has set trade restrictions on steel imports in the form of quotas on 26 steel categories with a tariff of 25% on imports exceeding those quotas. This move mostly affects China and is the indirect result of President Trump's 25% tariffs on steel imports. As Chinese steel finds it harder to get into the American market, China is looking to dump its excess steel capacity wherever it can. Europe is a plump target. This type of trade restriction could cascade to include any country with a steel industry. Not to do so would leave said countries open to being flooded by Chinese steel over-capacity, extinguishing their domestic steel industry. Fifth, Polish Internal Security agency arrested and charged a Huawei executive on suspicion of spying for China. Huawei is the top supplier of smartphones in Poland with over a third of the market. Huawei has denied knowledge of the activities of its employee and has fired him." • Peter Skurkiss tells us : "They're happening because of one Donald Trump. It's not that the President told the EU to restrict Chinese steel or called Poland to arrest the Huawei executive. Trump isn't micromanaging. What he's doing is more effective. Leading by example, he has initiated a paradigm shift in how others look at Chinese misbehavior. Prior to Trump taking strong exception to China's mercantile trade practices and intellectual property thefts, Chinese agents more or less skipped uninhibited throughout the West, picking up whatever goodies they could. A greased palm here, a bought politician there, and before you know it, hundreds of billions of dollars a year of intellectual property and technology was flowing into China. Now that the Alpha Dog has bared his teeth to the Red Dragon, others are finding the courage to demand fairness in their China trade. There is no other way to look at the situation but to conclude that China's free ride is rapidly ending. This will force Chinese President Xi Jinping and the rest of his communist leadership to focus more on how to manage their country's astronomical debt, capital outflow, poverty, and upside-down demographic than trying to take America's position in the world." • BlabberBuzz reports that China’s economic expansion last year slumped to its slowest pace in 28 years as the country came under pressure from the Trump administration’s tariffs. China announced Monday that its economy grew 6.6%, the slowest pace since 1990. The year prior, China’s economy grew at a 6.8% rate, revised down from 6.9% earlier. The slowdown was expected by economists. In fact, investors in Asian stocks appeared to be relieved it was not even worse than forecast, bidding up share prices after the announcement. BlabberBuzz says : "It may be that President Donald Trump’s agreement with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping to hold off on further trade actions for 90 days gave China’s industrial production an end of the year lift....Many outside experts are skeptical of China’s reports of its economic performance. They suspect that China’s economy may be growing even slower than the official statistics reveal." • • • TRUMP'S CHINA POLICY AND EUROPE. And, South China Morning Post (SCMP -- the Hong Kong(based decipherer of Chinese political and economic moves) wrote on Monday that : "Germany’s slide towards recession and Italy again threatening a revolt could mean big trouble for China’s economy, even if the trade war is resolved." The SCMP says : "The global economy remains stuck in a deflationary [post-2008] aftershock, with the fallout still felt far and wide, not least in China’s other big trade partner, Europe, where the risks of slipping back into recession still loom large. As a major exporting bloc, Europe is a good bellwether for how global trade is bearing up under the strain -- and the outlook is far from rosy. What is alarming from Europe’s perspective is that, after years of monetary super-stimulus and policy pump-priming, the economic outlook has taken a turn for the worse, with Germany, its biggest economy, suddenly back on the brink of recession....The easy days are over....Germany is definitely feeling the pinch and what emerges there will be felt in the rest of Europe further down the line. In the past few months, German business confidence has fallen away very sharply, reinforcing the ECB’s view that European economic risks are tilted to the downside. Domestic and international fear factors abound. On the international side, German companies are worried about the US-China trade war, negative fallout from the US government shutdown and the impact of a no-deal, hard Brexit by the UK. This is all rebounding on Germany’s domestic economy, hitting industrial orders, factory output and new investment intentions....German growth slumped to 1.5% in 2018, its worst annual rate in five years, with the economy once again flirting with recession. Third-quarter gross domestic product was negative to the tune of a 0.2% drop in output and it will be another month before official data confirms whether Germany managed to avoid a 'technical recession' in the final three months of 2018. Whatever the outcome, the underlying trend is worrying, with the gravitational drift shifting towards harder times ahead." • SCMP calls Germany the "microcosm for what fate befalls the rest of Europe. If Germany stumbles into a demand sinkhole then the European economy will follow close behind. The latest economic confidence numbers from the Eurozone are far from encouraging. The problems are piling up, not least the worry that the ECB will be less supportive to future growth, while the European Union keeps plugging away with fiscal consolidation and austerity. The policy outlook will strangle any hope of recovery without a major sea-change in strategy." • AND, says SCMP : "European politics could throw a further spanner into the works. After Italy’s recent run-in with the European Union over fiscal sovereignty, far-right Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini warned that Italy could lead a populist 'European spring,' a reminder that anti-Brussels and eurosceptic sentiments are far from dead and buried. Politicians may boast about a 'united' front over Britain’s Brexit position but, behind the unity, there are definite signs of cracks re-emerging in European politics." This refers to the May 2019 European Parliament elections, in which Europe's populist parties that champion nationhood, local culture and government, and greatly reduced immigration, are expected do well. • • • THE UNITED STATES INDICTS HUAWEI. CNBC reported very early on Tuesday that : "The US Department of Justice filed criminal charges Monday against Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of China tech giant Huawei and the daughter of its founder and president Ren Zhengfei. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker confirmed during a press conference that the Justice Department is seeking the extradition of Meng Wanzhou from Canada. The Justice Department also announced charges Monday against Huawei for allegedly stealing trade secrets from T-Mobile. The charges stem from a civil trade secrets lawsuit filed by T-Mobile in 2014 over a robot called "Tappy," which was used in testing smartphones." • Reuters reported on Tuesday that a spokesman at China's industry and information technology ministry said that the US government indictment against Huawei is "unfair" and "immoral." • Alex Capri, visiting senior fellow at NUS Business School, told CNBC he found Beijing's response notable : "I think the choice of words is very interesting from Beijing because I didn't hear any talk about retaliation, I didn't hear any talk similar to what we heard regarding Canada, where 5G networks might be held up, Huawei's involvement in building these types of networks, you know, as a penalty might withdraw. What that does is that underscores the reality here, and that is that Huawei is incredibly vulnerable." Capri says the vulnerability stems from Huawei's "dependence still on Western tech," adding "that is why Beijing is treading very carefully here." • The South China Morning Post quoted the Chinese foreign ministry as saying that the Huawei charges are a US attempt to smear Chinese companies -- "Political motivation" is behind the attack on companies’ legitimate operations, says Chinese foreign ministry. On Monday, Huawei issued a statement denying the charges filed in the US against the Chinese telecom giant for allegedly stealing trade secrets and violating US sanctions. A spokesman for China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology condemned the US charges against Huawei and Meng. • THE CHARGES are extensive -- more than two dozen charges were filed, including those related to money laundering and Meng's conspiring to violate US sanctions against Iran by doing business with Teheran through a subsidiary Huawei tried to hide. The justice department also accused Huawei of making misrepresentations to several financial institutions, not disclosing their names in the indictment, to “manipulate those other banks into expanding and maintaining their banking relationships with Huawei.” A separate indictment charged that in 2012 Huawei had begun a concerted effort to steal information about a robot that T-Mobile used to test mobile phones. In an effort to build their own robot, Huawei’s engineers violated confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements with T-Mobile by secretly taking photos of the robot, measuring it and even stealing a piece of it, according to the indictment. Huawei later rewarded the employees involved, the indictment states. • SCMP noted that Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang also said that the US should halt what he called "unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies" and withdraw its arrest warrant against Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou : “The United States has been using state power to smear and attack specific Chinese enterprises, destroying the legitimate operations of the companies,” Geng said, adding, "There is strong political motivation and manipulation behind it. China is determined to protect legitimate rights of Chinese companies.” • • • THE HUAWEI CASE AND MENG, HUAWEI FOUNDER'S DAUGHTER. US prosecutors spent more than 10 years preparing their case before filing criminal charges against Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment supplier, alleging it stole trade secrets from an American rival and committed bank fraud by violating sanctions against doing business with Iran. Reuters quotes the US indictment that says that since 2010, Huawei misled various financial institutions and banks in the US by hiding its true relationship with Skycom. As a result, one of the banks, known as “US Subsidiary 1” (a subsidiary of “Financial Institution 1”) in the indictment, cleared over US$100 million in transactions for Skycom. In September 2012, a Huawei senior vice-president testified to the US Congress that the company’s business did not violate any sanctions, and a Huawei treasurer days later told a principal of a US bank that the firm and its global affiliates were not in violation of any laws. But months later, Reuters published a report that said Huawei owned and operated Skycom, which was trying to sell embargoed goods of US origin to Iran, which violated sanctions. Last year, Huawei's Chinese rival ZTE was fined US$1 billion and banned from buying American parts and services for almost three months, for failing to discipline 35 employees involved in the illegal sale of telecoms equipment to Iran and North Korea. Acting US Attorney General Matthew Whitaker announced the 13-count indictment of financial fraud and other charges against Chinese Huawei Technologies, as well as two affiliated companies and Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Canada on December 1 at the request of the US, which has said it would file a request to Canada for her extradition by Wednesday’s deadline. • Reuters reported that Huawei told SCMP : “After Ms Meng’s arrest, the company sought an opportunity to discuss [the investigation] with the Justice Department, but the request was rejected without explanation. The company denies that it or its subsidiary or affiliate have committed any of the asserted violations of US law set forth in each of the indictments, is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng and believes the US courts will ultimately reach the same conclusion.” Meng’s lawyer Reid Weingarten, partner at Steptoe & Johnson, said Meng “should not be a hostage” in China-US relations. “Our client, Meng, should not be a pawn or a hostage in this relationship. Ms Meng is an ethical and honorable businesswoman who has never spent a second of her life plotting to violate any US law, including the Iranian sanctions.” Huawei listed Meng as CFO and one of the company’s executive directors in 2011, when it publicly disclosed its leadership. She is out on bail in Vancouver while awaiting the outcome of a hearing to decide whether she will be extradited to the US to face charges. Months after the Reuters reports were first published in 2012, Meng requested an in-person meeting with an executive from “Financial Institution 1” -- one of the victims involved in helping Skycom [a wholly-owned Huawei affiliate] process millions of dollars in transactions. In Meng’s meeting with the executive in August 2013, she used a PowerPoint presentation to explain that her participation on the board of Skycom between February 2008 and April 2009, was meant to help Huawei “better understand Skycom’s financial results and business performance, and to strengthen and monitor Skycom’s compliance.” In early 2014, Meng made a trip to New York via John F Kennedy International Airport, where US authorities reviewed a file containing text from an electronic device belonging to her. The file, which may have been deleted, contained “talking points” about Iran and Skycom, according to the indictment. The airport was under the purview of the Eastern District of New York, which filed the criminal charges. Around 2017, “Financial Institution 1” terminated its banking relationship with Huawei due to risk concerns, the US found. The financial institution emphasized to Huawei that the termination was its decision alone. Following that setback, Huawei attempted to strengthen its relationships with other banks, stating that it was the one who ended the relationship with “Financial Institution 1” because it was dissatisfied with its service. Around the same time, the US alleged that Huawei became aware of the US criminal investigation against it, and purportedly moved witnesses with knowledge about its Iran business to mainland China, where they would be beyond the jurisdiction of the US. The company also sought to destroy and conceal evidence of its business. • • • THE HUAWEI CASE INVOLVES COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD. SCMP reported on Tuesday that Reuters states : "China has pledged to fast-track the issuance of 5G commercial licences as part of an effort to boost domestic use of the next-generation mobile technology amid a US-led push back on the overseas ambitions of telecommunications equipment giant Huawei Technologies. China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a notice published on its website on Tuesday that it will speed up the granting of 5G commercial licences to upgrade so-called information consumption in the country. The state planner also said it would promote high-quality video and support the launch of 4K television channels across China to enrich content as well as subsidise super high-definition TV sets, virtual reality and augmented reality devices in certain regions. The move is part of a broader effort to boost domestic consumption amid slowing economic growth. It also comes at a time when Huawei, which leads China’s bid to become the leading supplier of advanced telecoms equipment to the world’s mobile carriers, faces growing pressure from the US, where some politicians consider it an arm of the Chinese government." There is also heightened scrutiny on Huawei in other countries -- including Britain, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. • SCMP says China authorities earlier this year said they would issue temporary 5G licenses to promote the application and construction of the next-generation mobile technology to push forward the development of new 5G hardware, including smartphones and wearable devices. The central Chinese government also awarded China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom with 5G spectrum licences at the end of 2018, enabling them to conduct final trials for the new mobile system before its wider commercial roll-out set for 2020. Wen Ku, a senior information and communications officer at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday that the 5G networks are ready for “pre-commercialisation” after the completion of the latest tests. Wen said Huawei expects mature 5G devices to roll out by mid-2019 because smartphone makers and chip suppliers have been making rapid progress in developing 5G-based devices. According to data from the Internet Society of China, the information consumption market in China, which includes all services and products that rely on an internet connection -- including connected cars, wearable devices and service robots -- was worth 5 trillion yuan (US$741 billion) in 2018, accounting for about 6% of the country’s GDP. • According to SCMP : "Huawei Technologies, which founder Ren Zhengfei started in 1987 as a company selling telephone switches, has built for itself a vast international market to become the world’s largest telecommunications equipment supplier. The US indictments against Huawei Technologies for violating US sanctions against Iran and stealing trade secrets are seen as the latest steps that could potentially push the world into two distinct camps when it comes to the telecommunications industry. If Huawei is blocked from providing network equipment to the US and its allies, there is a danger of a split in the industry -- where Western companies and Asian firms are only allowed to serve their own markets. Countries such as Britain, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Canada have either banned or are reviewing whether to allow Huawei equipment to be installed in their telecoms networks on the basis of security concerns over the firm’s relationship with the Chinese government." American universities have blacklisted Huawei and other Chinese telecoms under pressure from the Department of Justice. But, the Canadian phone company Telus backs China’s Huawei as "viable and reliable," according Reuters and SCMP. And, US lawmakers are seeking to ban chip sales to China’s Huawei and ZTE for "violating American sanctions." • • • CANADA IS A SPECIAL CASE. Because of being the country that arrested Meng Wanzhou, Canada has played a highlighted role in the Huawei legal battle with the United States. • AND, that led to a scandal of sorts last week when Canada’s ambassador to China, John McCallum, was fired by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after McCallum remarked that the US extradition request was flawed and that it would be “great for Canada” if it was dropped. • Chinese state media attacked Canada for sacking its "outspoken" ambassador. The tabloid Global Times leads charge against Canadian government’s demand that John McCallum resign. Chinese state-run media on Monday decried the sacking of Canada’s ambassador to Beijing. McCallum had raised eyebrows over a series of remarks regarding the case of Huawei’s chief financial officer whose arrest has sparked a diplomatic row between Beijing and Canada. The resignation, at the request of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, “reveals political interference,” the Global Times said in an editorial; adding that Ottawa is now as “sensitive as a frightened bird....As a Chinese folk saying goes, ‘You cannot live the life of a whore and expect a monument to your chastity.' Canada is a country worthy of respect, but some Canadians...are against moral righteousness while deceiving themselves to believe that they can be honoured as moral models.” • Beijing has reacted furiously to Meng’s detention. In apparent retaliation, two Canadian citizens have been detained on national security grounds and another was sentenced to death for drug trafficking. • SCMP says Canada has repeatedly stressed the case is not politically motivated and the justice system is fair but Chinese media has cast Meng’s arrest as part of an assault on the development on the country’s hi-tech industry. China Daily wrote : “McCallum was merely stating the truth when he observed that Meng has a strong case against extradition, which he rightly said was politically motivated.” • Canada Free Press wrote on Tuesday that : "For Trudeau and the Liberals, it is all about winning this upcoming election and turning Asian-Ontario swing districts to the Liberals and retaining existing Asian-dominated Liberal districts. That is why McCallum gave a 40-minute speech to only local Chinese-speaking newspapers in the Asian-dominated town of Markham about why McCallum and the Trudeau Liberals thought Meng Wanzhou, the Huawei CFO, had a strong legal case against America’s extradition request for her to be removed to the US....No English-speaking press was allowed at this 40-minute briefing in which McCallum meticulously and articulately laid out the case to the Asian reporters and by extension to the Asian voters in the Markham districts and to the Communist Chinese government. When this very undiplomatic speech was leaked, McCallum was forced to apologize for 'misspeaking.' This was no misspeak. McCallum is not smart enough to have composed this pro Huawei, pro Communist China speech without help from the sharp Liberal lawyers in the Prime Minister’s Office and without the knowledge and consent of Trudeau. You see the slippery Trudeau and the Liberals were caught doing what they always do. Speaking out of two sides of their mouths to two different audiences in two different languages. Usually Trudeau says something in English to English Canada and something different on the same topic to French Quebec. McCallum and Trudeau thought they could pull that same stunt on the Huawei case. They thought they could say in English to English Canada and to the US, that the Huawei matter was strictly legal and Canada was simply following the rule of law and respecting its treaty obligations with the US and there would be no political interference in the adjudication of the Meng Wanzhou extradiction case. But McCallum and Trudeau were too clever for their own good....They also did not count on the political firestorm that was unleashed by McCallum’s apparently very pro Communist Chinese comments which ran contrary to Canada’s national interests and particularly its relationship with its major ally and trading partner to the south....Bottom line. McCallum accepted an impossibly stupid mission. He got caught. And Trudeau and his government disavowed all knowledge of his involvement." • • • DEAR READERS, despite the Huawei lawsuit, the trade talks between China and the US will go forward. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he's hopeful that the talks will make progress. The high-level Chinese trade delegation -- including a central bank governor, the National Development and Reform Commission deputy chief, a finance vice-minister, a foreign vice-minister, a commerce vice-minister, an agriculture vice-minister, and industry and information technology vice-minister -- landed in Washington on Tuesday for the latest round of talks aimed at ending the trade war. A diplomatic source told SCMP that the US had presented a list of demands to China during their previous round of talks in Beijing in early January. China said it would study the demands, and is expected to make counter proposals in the upcoming talks, the source said. Both sides gave a positive assessment of the last talks, saying the discussions were “good." Both sides have agreed on a March 1 deadline for the current round of negotiations, following talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Trump in Argentina in early December. Both agreed to suspend the imposition of additional tariffs after the talks, but failing to reach a deal by March could result in the US increasing tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese imports from 10% to 25%. The US has long demanded that China buys more American products, stop forcing US companies to transfer technology to their Chinese counterparts, and stop cyberattacks and theft. • China and the US clearly are trying to keep their complicated trade disputes separate from the charges levelled against China’s telecommunications giant Huawei. Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing hoped that the trade talks in Washington would make progress and he did not draw any direct links between the Huawei case and the trade negotiations. Geng reiterated that Washington was well aware of China’s positions on Meng and Huawei as well as the trade issues. He would not elaborate on whether Meng’s case would be raised by the Chinese trade negotiators but said Beijing hopes that the trade talks would lead to mutually acceptable solutions.