FINAL EPISODE of Sanctioned: The Arrest of a Telecom Giant
“The Final Chapter” is available now
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The arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver, B.C., in December 2018 plunged Canada in the middle of a global trade war at an unprecedented moment in telecommunications history.
Then, in September 2021, after nearly three years of being on bail conditions similar to house arrest in Vancouver with private security monitoring her every move, Meng returned to China. But where does the story stand and what does it mean for Canada-China relations?
Sanctioned: The Arrest of a Telecom Giant, the CBC Vancouver award-winning podcast about the arrest and release of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, details the whirlwind relay of events that brought the case to a close in its final episode.
Join host Stephen Quinn as he narrates the story of international intrigue from beginning to end, speaking to CBC journalists and other experts who were on the scene when the world's eyes turned to Vancouver.
Follow Sanctioned: The Arrest of a Telecom Giant on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, CBC Listen and other podcast platforms.
Episode 1: The arrival - Meng Wanzhou lands in Vancouver on what was supposed to be a routine transit stop. Instead, she finds herself under arrest, accused of violating economic sanctions in Iran and facing the possibility of jail in the United States.
Episode 2: The family business - As Meng Wanzhou appears in a Vancouver courtroom for the first time, the story of her remarkable career with Huawei emerges. And questions are raised about the Chinese government's role in the powerhouse firm her father built from the ground up.
Episode 3: Power Point - Meng Wanzhou faces a week in a British Columbia jail. It's a remarkable change in fortunes for a woman who once welcomed former Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan to an economic forum. And a revolution in Iran leads to sanctions that will one day make a PowerPoint presentation Exhibit A in the case of the People V Meng.
Episode 4: Firestorm - News breaks of Meng's arrest and the international media descends on Vancouver as Meng Wanzhou's local real estate holdings make her a poster-child for a city riven by real estate speculation by wealthy Chinese.
Episode 5: Retaliation - As Meng Wanzhou's lawyers craft a plan for her release, China shows its displeasure with the arrest of an icon by arresting two Canadians accused of spying. President Donald Trump weighs in on the situation and Meng's friends step forward to support her.
Episode 6: Indictment - Now living under a form of house arrest, Meng Wanzhou plans her legal strategy as tensions simmer between the U.S., China and Canada.. Prosecutors unseal an indictment against Meng and Huawei and a Canadian faces the death penalty.
Episode 7: The Arrest Warrant - Grainy video emerges of Meng Wanzhou's first fateful hours, and Meng moves uptown, inhabiting a new house, a new look and what appears to be a new public relations strategy.
Episode 8: The Rule of Law - The man credited with engineering U.S. President Donald Trump's election campaign announces plans to release a movie based on the Meng Wanzhou story. Tensions between Canada and China reach a breaking point while protests in Hong Kong reignite questions around democracy and human rights.
Episode 9: American Trap - Meng Wanzhou goes to court to force the Canadian government to produce the documents her lawyers claim she'll need to prove she's the victim of a conspiracy. And Meng's father turns tastemaker with his recommendation of a book by a jailed French executive who claims he was also the victim of an 'American Trap.'
Episode 10: Charm Offensive - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tells the U.S. government not to close a trade deal without settling the question of Meng Wanzhou and the two Canadians accused of spying in China. The CBC's long-planned interview with Meng's father - Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei - falls apart, and questions still remain about Huawei's role in 5G technology.
Episode 11: Double Criminality - Meng Wanzhou's fate is tied to a California bigamist who tried to escape the law – and his other wife – by fleeing to B.C. Tensions between morality, law and politics are examined through a precedent dating back to 1860.
Episode 12: The Two Michaels - The wife of one of two Canadians held in Chinese prisons for suspected espionage since Meng Wanzhou's 2018 arrest demands political action, and Meng's lawyers throw a new claim of abuse into the mix.
NEW: Episode 13: The Final Chapter - Three years of fiery political posturing and intense legal wrangling with Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou comes to a close and two Canadians return home after facing the possibility of years behind Chinese prison bars.
