VANCOUVER — Huawei's chief financial officer says she has suffered a lifetime of health problems, including thyroid cancer, sleep apnea and high blood pressure, but she is ready to fight allegations of fraud if she is extradited to the United States.
Meng Wanzhou, 46, details her health issues in an affidavit submitted for a bail hearing that resulted in her release from detention Tuesday on a $10-million deposit.
Meng is scheduled to return to B.C. Supreme Court in February to face possible extradition proceedings initiated by the United States based on allegations she deceived financial institutions about business Huawei did with Iranian telecommunications companies in violation of international sanctions.
Speaking through her lawyer this week, Meng told Justice William Ehrcke that she wished to read a novel for the first time in years and see her doctors, if she were released.
"I have had numerous health problems during my life," she says in an affidavit dated Dec. 4, explaining she survived thyroid cancer after having surgery in in 2011.
"I currently have difficulty eating solid food and have had to modify my diet to address those issues."
She says her doctor has provided her with "daily packages of medications" to treat her ailments.
Meng and her husband, Xiaozong Liu, own two homes in Vancouver, and Ehrcke ordered her to remain at one of them between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Meng, who is also the deputy chairwoman of the board of Huawei, was arrested while transferring planes at Vancouver's airport on Dec. 1 at the request of the United States.
In her affidavit, Meng says she was interrogated by Canada Border Services Agency personnel and taken to hospital to be treated for severe hypertension.
"I continue to feel unwell and I am worried about my health deteriorating while I am incarcerated," she says of her time at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in nearby Maple Ridge.
On Wednesday, Meng was seen waving goodbye to visitors at her door, with her husband in the background. A security team was on site, with a black SUV in front of the home. A throng of media were outside.
At lunch, six pizzas were delivered to the house and the delivery driver was instructed to bring four of them to the reporters and photographers.
Later in the afternoon, Meng was seen getting into an SUV with two security officers and driving away.
In her affidavit, Meng says she first visited Canada about 15 years ago and became a permanent resident before relinquishing that status. She stays in Vancouver for two to three weeks every summer.
Meng says she and her husband bought a house in Vancouver in 2009, where she is now living, and it was assessed at $5.6 million last year. In 2016, they purchased a second home in the city's upscale Shaughnessy neighbourhood and its assessed value was $16.3 million. She says the homes have a total mortgage of $7.5 million.
Her 10-year-old daughter and her extended family members would be living with her for the duration of her interim release, Meng says in the affidavit, adding she would scrupulously abide by her bail conditions.
"My father founded Huawei and I would never do anything that would cause the company reputational damage," she says. "I believe that breaching my bail conditions would cause such damage. I maintain that I am innocent of the allegations that have been levelled at me. I wish to remain in Vancouver to contest my extradition and I will contest the allegations at trial in the U.S. if I am ultimately surrendered."
Meng's husband, a venture capitalist, provided two affidavits to the court, saying he arrived in Vancouver two days after his wife was arrested.
He says his wife has three sons from previous marriages but they do not ordinarily live with them.
Liu submitted several photographs between 2009 and 2018 of the couple, their children and their extended families at various locations including Banff, Alta., Victoria and in and around Vancouver to indicate they have connections to the community.
"I have friends in Vancouver and consider myself to be a part of the community," he says.
