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       Meng Wanzhou, centre, chief financial officer of Huawei, leaves B.C. Supreme Court during a break from her extradition hearing, in Vancouver, on Wednesday, August 18, 2021. Ms. Meng has spent most of the past 1,000 days in a mansion in the Vancouver suburbs.

       DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press

       A Chinese state-run newspaper has launched a campaign to free Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who is fighting extradition from Canada to the United States, as she nears 1,000 days in detention.

       The Global Times, a nationalist tabloid known for its provocative commentary, published an open letter to Canada’s ambassador to China, Dominic Barton, late Wednesday local time, accusing Ottawa of “blatant political persecution.”

       Ms. Meng is accused of lying to HSBC during a presentation in Hong Kong in 2013, exposing the bank to a risk of being punished by the U.S. for violating sanctions on Iran.

       August 26 will mark 1,000 days since she was first detained in Vancouver on December 1, 2018. Following her arrest, two Canadian citizens, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were detained in Beijing and later charged with espionage, an accusation Ottawa views as trumped up and an attempt to pressure Canada into releasing Ms. Meng.

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       On the left, Michael Spavor, director of Paektu Cultural Exchange, talks during a Skype interview in Yangi, China. On the right is Michael Kovrig, a Canadian former diplomat who now advises the International Crisis Group, an independent nongovernmental organization that tries to defuse international conflict.

       The Globe and Mail

       Last week, Mr. Spavor was sentenced to 11-years in prison, while Mr. Kovrig is still awaiting a verdict in his case. Unlike Ms. Meng, who has spent most of the past 1,000 days in a mansion in the Vancouver suburbs, the Two Michaels have spent long periods in solitary confinement, held in cells where the lights are on 24-hours a day.

       Their families and supporters have been campaigning hard for their release and are planning a number of events to draw attention to their nearly 1,000-days in custody next month. The Globe and Mail has also launched a campaign urging readers to write to China’s embassy in Ottawa calling for their release, which may have prompted the Chinese newspaper’s actions this week.

       In the B.C. court, Ms. Meng’s lawyers have sought to poke holes in the U.S. case, arguing that prosecutors twisted Ms. Meng’s representations, ignored exculpatory evidence and overstated any risk of harm to HSBC.

       This argument may not be successful in preventing her extradition however, as the case need only clear the far lower bar of showing if the crime had been committed in Canada, there is enough evidence to send it on to trial.

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       The open letter to Mr. Barton echoed much of the defence team’s arguments, saying that “there is enough evidence to show that the US distorted the facts to lay out a false case against Meng.”

       “It was an ironic and rare when the so-called victim of this fraud case – HSBC – agreed to provide relevant materials to the court to help prove Meng’s innocence,” the paper said, adding that “as an accomplice in the case, the Canadian government should be held liable for aiding the US persecute a Chinese citizen for political purposes.”

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       Neither the open letter or an article about it published by the Global Times mentioned the case of the Two Michaels, though the article did note that “some Canadian lawmakers and officials have been constantly calling for Meng’s release as they believe that her case was highly politicized that led to a deteriorating Canada-China relationship.”

       As of Wednesday evening ET, a website launched to gather signatures in support of the Global Times’ open letter to Mr. Barton claimed some 160,000 people had signed.

       Canada’s embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

       Alexandra Li contributed reporting from Beijing.

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