Arrested Huawei Executive and Her Father Own Nearly $39 Million in Hong Kong Properties

By Sunny Chao, Epoch Times

December 7, 2018 Updated: December 8, 2018

After Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested, Hong Kong media have unveiled details of the local properties owned by her and her father.

Meng, the CFO of Huawei Technologies and her father, Ren Zhengfei, founder and chairman of Huawei, owned 22 property tenements in Hong Kong with a value of about HK$300 million ($38.4 million). They both hold Hong Kong identity cards and Canadian passports.

Meng was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1 at the behest of U.S. authorities on suspicion that she violated trade sanctions targeting Iran.

Meng is the eldest daughter of Ren and his ex-wife Meng Jun. She entered Huawei in 1993 and worked there secretly for more than two decades. In 2013, the fact that she was Ren’s daughter was finally made public. Her brother Ren Ping also holds an important position in the company.

Hong Kong’s Apple Daily reported on Dec. 7 that Ren Zhengfei purchased property in Hong Kong under an assumed name. In 2003, he used the name of Huawei to purchase four connected high-rise tenements in Island Harbourview, one of the largest private housing estates in Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. In 2004, he bought the remaining two tenements on the same floor, and then all tenements on two other floors. He purchased a total of 18 tenements, each of which are worth HK$ 3-4 million (several hundred thousand dollars) in that year.

Meng used her name to buy tenements in Sorrento, a residential complex occupying the northern edge of Union Square in Hong Kong with the price of HK$33 million ($4.22 million). The next year, she bought a duplex tenement on Island Harbourview with HK$18 million ($2.3 million), which is believed to be Meng and her husband’s residence in Hong Kong.

All the 22 tenements receive funds from mortgages, estimated at $HK300 million, according to the report. Meng was also president of three listed companies in Hong Kong—Huawei Tech. Investment Co., Ltd., Huawei International Co. Limited, and Hua Ying management Co. Limited.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/arrested-huawei-executive-and-her-father-own-nearly-39-million-in-hong-kong-properties_2733327.html

China summons Canadian ambassador over Huawei CFO's arrest in Vancouver

Chinese foreign ministry warns of consequences with Meng Wanzhou's bail hearing set to resume Monday

Thomson Reuters · Posted: Dec 08, 2018 9:27 AM ET | Last Updated: 44 minutes ago

China's foreign ministry called on Canada to immediately release Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.'s chief financial officer on Saturday, warning that otherwise it would face consequences.

The ministry said in a statement that Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng had issued the warning to Canada's ambassador in Beijing, summoning John McCallum to lodge a "strong protest."

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's global chief financial officer, was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1, detained on a U.S. warrant while en route from Hong Kong to Mexico via Canada.

Meng, who is also the daughter of the founder of Huawei, faces extradition to the United States, which alleges that she covered up her company's links to a firm that tried to sell equipment to Iran despite sanctions.

Chinese officials have labelled her arrest as "extremely nasty" and are calling for her immediate release.

On Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said the Canadian ambassador had briefed the Chinese foreign ministry on developments and he gave assurances that due process is being followed in Canada and that Meng will have consular access.

But some Canadian businesses with ties to China may be concerned.

"If I was a Canadian executive, I'd get the heck out of China by the fastest route possible," Uclid Inc. President Elmer Kim told a CBC business panel.

China could 'inflict pain' on relations

The long-standing set of extradition arrangements Canada has with the U.S., which have the force of law, is "not something which readily allows political interference," Gordon Houlden, director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, told CBC News on Saturday.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/huawei-cfo-meng-wanzhou-china-summons-canadian-ambassador-1.4938171