The United States is ready to drop its case against Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in a case that has sparked a major row between Beijing and Ottawa, according to court documents seen by AFP on Friday.

As part of a plea deal reached in September 2021, prosecutors on Thursday asked to drop the case against the daughter of the Chinese telecom giant’s founder, who spent three years under house arrest in Vancouver.

“In the absence of any known violations of the terms of the agreement, the government requests that the charges be dropped” against Meng Wanzhou, they wrote to a federal judge in New York, who must formally approve the request.

On December 1, 2018, during a stopover in Canada, the head of Huawei was arrested at the request of the American authorities.

Accused of ‘bank fraud’, Meng Wanzhou was accused of lying to avoid US sanctions against Iran. This crime is punishable by more than 30 years in prison in the United States, from where she faces extradition.

Days after her arrest, China arrested two Canadians and charged them with espionage in what many saw as retaliation.

Wen and the two Canadians returned to their countries only after US courts reached a settlement with Huawei’s chief executive in which she admitted to “false statements”.

Instead, the US “suspended” the case against her until December 1, 2022, allowing Canada to release her, and agreed to drop it after that if the terms of the deal were met.