Open this photo in gallery

       Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou exits court at the conclusion of a hearing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, August 18, 2021.

       JENNIFER GAUTHIER/Reuters

       China’s ambassador to Canada spoke to Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on Wednesday, as she nears 1,000 days in her fight against being extradited to the United States.

       According to a statement from the Chinese embassy in Ottawa, Ambassador Cong Peiwu spoke to Ms. Meng on the phone at her home in Vancouver. Mr. Cong “expressed deep sympathy” to Ms. Meng for her “arbitrary detention,” the statement said, adding that China “strongly condemns the wrong actions” of Canada in this case.

       “The Chinese government is firmly committed to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and companies,” Mr. Cong said, according to the statement. “Any attempt to bully or oppress the Chinese people will be severely beaten.”

       Ms. Meng is accused of fraud by the U.S. and was detained by the RCMP in Vancouver in December 2018. In a document laying out its case to Canadian authorities, the U.S. says Ms. Meng lied to the global bank HSBC, putting it at risk of violating sanctions against Iran.

       An extradition hearing in her case wrapped up in Vancouver last week. The judge is currently considering the verdict, a process that could take months.

       In a separate article published this week in The Hill Times, an Ottawa newspaper, Mr. Cong said that the case against the Huawei executive “is purely a political one.”

       “The U.S. government concocted the incident to repress Chinese high-tech companies and obstruct China’s development,” he wrote. “Canada is acting as a cat’s paw for the U.S. It has been used by the U.S.”

       Following Ms. Meng’s arrest, two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were detained in Beijing.

       Both were charged with espionage and put on trial this year. Earlier this month, a Chinese court handed Mr. Spavor an 11-year prison sentence, but no verdict has been forthcoming in Mr. Kovrig’s case. Ottawa regards their detention as political and the charges against them unfounded.

       This week, the Two Michaels’ families announced plans to march through Ottawa on September 5, a day after they will mark 1,000 days in prison.

       Story continues below advertisement

       On Facebook, the men’s families urged people to join them as a way to recognize their “courage and resilience” and to “inspire action” that will help bring them home.

       In his op-ed this week, Ambassador Cong said that “the nature of the Meng Wanzhou incident is completely different from that of the Canadian citizens’ cases.”

       “China is a friendly country and a country with the rule of law,” he said. “The Canadian citizens are suspected of committing crimes, and the evidence is reliable and sufficient.”

       According to official statistics, more than 99% of Chinese court cases end in a guilty verdict, and Beijing’s prosecution of the Two Michaels has been widely denounced by western governments, including the U.S. and the European Union.

       In a statement this month, an E.U. spokesperson said that Mr. Spavor had been denied the “right to a fair trial and due process, including the right to a public hearing, as guaranteed under international human rights law and China’s Criminal Procedure Law.”

       Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.