This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Huawei CFO gets hero’s welcome; Canadians land quietly The tallest building in Shenzhen lit up with scrolling slogan "Welcome Home, Meng Wanzhou" across its facade. The two Canadians freed by Beijing returned to their homeland with less fanfare Photo by CCTV/Chris Helgren / REUTERS

Article content China gave a hero’s welcome to Huawei Technologies Co.’s executive Meng Wanzhou as she touched down three years after her arrest in Canada, while two Canadians freed by Beijing returned to their homeland with less fanfare.

Advertisement 2 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content “I am finally home after over 1,000 days of suffering,” Meng, in a red dress, said tearfully to the cheering crowd after landing at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport around 10 local time on Saturday. We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Huawei CFO gets hero’s welcome; Canadians land quietly Back to video Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn The event, broadcast live by state media, dominated nine out of the top ten trending hashtags on the Chinese social media site Weibo. The tallest building in the city lit up with scrolling slogan “Welcome Home, Meng Wanzhou” across its facade. In contrast, Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig arrived to a more low-key reception. The pair landed in Calgary before sunrise on Saturday, accompanied by Dominic Barton, Canada’s ambassador to China. More On This Topic Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor arrive home after U.S. cuts deal Kovrig and Spavor back in Canada after nearly three years detention in China

Advertisement 3 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content Dressed in blazers and face-masks, they were met by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who hugged the pair on the tarmac. Government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and the nation’s spy agency, tweeted welcome messages to the pair, who were expected to reunite with the families in private. “There is going to be time for reflections and analysis in the coming days and weeks,” Trudeau told reporters late Friday after announcing China had released the men. U.S. Deal The daughter of Huawei’s billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei, Meng boarded an Air China plane on Friday to return to Shenzhen, where Huawei is based, after reaching a deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. authorities to resolve criminal charges against her.

Advertisement 4 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content She’d been under house arrest in Vancouver for almost three years as she battled extradition to the U.S. on fraud charges. Meng spent her time in confinement at her Vancouver mansion, and could venture out at times, wearing a GPS anklet, to shop at high-end boutiques with private security in tow. She thanked the support from the Chinese government and people, and said she was touched by President Xi Jinping’s concern for her case. Photo by REUTERS/Aly Song After her speech, Meng sang along as the crowd burst into a patriotic Chinese song called “Ode to the Motherland.” She then boarded a bus headed for quarantine. “Facts have long proved that this is a political persecution against a Chinese citizen with the aim to oppress China’s high-tech companies,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement. “The ‘fraud’ accusations against Ms. Meng are nothing but fabrication.”

Advertisement 5 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content Triumph for the People An opinion piece published by the official People’s Daily calls Meng’s return a triumph for the Chinese people. The article, “No Force Will Prevent China’s Progress,” says the peaceful return of Meng shows the lasting strength of China’s Communist Party and the country’s 1.4 billion people. In a post on her Wechat account reported by state media, Meng called China her backbone and said her freedom was thanks to a powerful home nation. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian also wrote “Welcome Home” in a Weibo post. As part of the deal that led to Meng’s release, China set free Kovrig and Spavor, who were detained within days of Meng’s December 2018 arrest. The release of the two Canadians wasn’t widely reported by Chinese state media. Kovrig is a former diplomat who works for the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think-tank. Spavor is a founding member of Paektu Cultural Exchange, an organization that facilitates ties with North Korea. Photo by CCTV / AFP / Getty Photo by Noel Celis / AFP / Getty

Share this article in your social network

Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

NP Posted Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. Sign Up By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again