It's a prisoner exchange that doesn't say its name.
This Friday, Meng Wanzhou, was able to fly to China.
Huawei's CFO had been under house arrest in Vancouver since 2018 on suspicion of bank fraud.
Washington, which had asked for such measures to be able to judge her in the United States, finally renounced the extradition of the number 2 of the Chinese telecoms giant.
At almost the same time, two Canadians detained in China were also released.
Ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor are now flying to North America.
In 2018, their imprisonment for "espionage" a few days after the arrest of Meng Wanzhou had caused an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between Ottawa and Beijing.
Canada saw it as retaliation.
"12 minutes ago, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor left Chinese airspace, on their way home," said Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, without wanting to give details on the circumstances of their release, because "It is an operation in progress".
“These two men went through a terrible ordeal for over 1,000 days.
They have shown determination, grace, resilience at every step and they are an inspiration to all of us, ”he added, adding that they were expected in Canada on Saturday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed the release of the two Canadians who were "arbitrarily" detained, he said.
Spectacular deal between Huawei and New York
This sequence of mutual releases is the realization of a spectacular agreement made public on Friday by a New York court between the Department of Justice and the Chinese telecoms juggernaut.
During a public hearing in Brooklyn federal court, the representative of the Department of Justice David Kessler had proposed to "postpone" until December 1, 2022 the "proceedings" initiated since the end of 2018 against Meng Wanzhou, in particular for "conspiracy" with a view to committing “bank fraud”.
The agreement, endorsed and described as "serious" by the federal court in Brooklyn in the early afternoon - which the Wall Street Journal was the first to unveil - also provided for Washington to recommend that Ottawa "release" the Huawei number 2 and de facto abandons any extradition request.
Since 2018, the American justice has accused the number 2 of the Chinese telecoms giant of having lied to an executive of the HSBC bank during a meeting in Hong Kong in 2013, about the links between the Chinese group and a subsidiary called Skycom which was selling equipment to Iran, exposing the facility to US sanctions.
According to the Justice Department, Meng admitted, under the terms of the agreement, that she had made at the time "false statements" and "withheld the truth" from the HSBC executive on "the activities of Huawei in Iran ”, a country subject to American and international sanctions.
If the legal deal is not challenged or broken by Dec. 1, 2022 (four years after the CFO's arrest), the lawsuits will be dropped for good, according to Washington.
Strong tensions between Beijing, Washington and Ottawa
With the announcement of the releases, three years of legal battle and strong economic and political tensions between Beijing, Washington and Ottawa should subside.
The Chinese government believes that the American administration - at the time of then President Donald Trump - was above all seeking to weaken Huawei, a cutting-edge Chinese company and world leader in 5G equipment and networks, unmatched on the American side.
In recent weeks, Ms. Meng's attorneys have again argued that the United States has brought an "abusive" lawsuit against its client.
The deal also comes a week after a spectacular announcement by the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom to supply Canberra with nuclear-powered submarines.
A colossal contract that angered China, which sees it as an act of hostility from Western countries.
