China sees the release of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou as a diplomatic victory. This is according to a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Chinese President Xi Jinping is said to have directed the release, according to the ministry.

On the fact that China released two Canadians simultaneously, the ministry spokeswoman said that “the two cases have nothing to do with each other”. China detained these two Canadians shortly after Meng’s arrest on suspicion of espionage. Critics in the United States and Canada argue that there is “hostage diplomacy” because both China and the United States and Canada hold citizens of each other and use them in negotiations with each other.

US President Joe Biden has made no statement about the releases of Meng and the Canadians. Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei and was arrested in Canada in 2018. She had been awaiting extradition to the US for nearly three years, who wanted to prosecute her for fraud and conspiracy.

On Friday, the Huawei executive stated she misled bank HSBC about trade contacts between Huawei and an Iranian company, against which the US had imposed sanctions. The statement is part of the deal with the American judiciary. As a result, the charges against her were dropped, and she was allowed to leave Canada.

The deal comes two weeks after a phone call between Biden and Xi. That conversation centred on Beijing’s decision to link the topic of climate change to other topics, including Meng’s release, the lifting of sanctions and the abolition of punitive charges. China wanted the US to take the first step to strengthen ties and suggested meeting “halfway through”.