Understatement winner

A little background:

Huawei is a Chinese tech company based in Shenzhen that sells smartphones and telecommunications equipment around the world. Earlier this year, it become the world's second-largest smartphone maker, behind Samsung, according to IDC. It sells more phones than Apple (AAPL). As one of China's top champions in the tech sector, Huawei plays a key role in the country's ambitions to become a global tech superpower. The company has been racing to develop 5G technology and is central to China's plans to dominate the rollout of super-fast wireless networks. But concerns that Huawei devices pose national security risks have seriously hurt its ability to grow abroad. Intelligence agencies in the United States have said American citizens shouldn't use Huawei phones, and US government agencies are banned from buying the company's equipment. Security concerns have caused problems in the United Kingdom. New Zealand and Australia have barred Huawei equipment from its 5G mobile networks.

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Meng [Wanzhou], who is also known as Sabrina Meng and Cathy Meng, is Huawei's chief financial officer and serves as the deputy chairwoman of Huawei's board. Notably, she's the daughter of Huawei's elusive founder, Ren Zhengfei. Aside from a brief stint at China Construction Bank, the 46-year-old executive has spent her entire career at Huawei. Her brother, Meng Ping, also known as Ren Ping, works at a Huawei subsidiary, and there was speculation that they were being groomed for succession. The Huawei founder reportedly shot that down in a letter to employees in 2013, saying his children lacked the vision, character and ambition to lead the company.

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Huawei said in a statement that Meng was detained by Canadian authorities on behalf of US officials when she was transferring flights in Canada. The company said she faces unspecified charges in the Eastern District of New York.

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A spokesperson for Canada's Justice Department said only that the United States wants to extradite Meng, and a bail hearing is set for Friday. According to a law enforcement official, the US Justice Department sought the arrest as part of ongoing investigation.

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The Wall Street Journal reported in April that the US Justice Department was investigating whether Huawei violated US sanctions on Iran.

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Meng's arrest has struck a nerve in China. The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday called for Meng to be released and for the United States and Canada to explain why she'd been detained.

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The arrest could jeopardize an already precarious ceasefire in the conflict between the United States and China over trade and technology.

  CNN

Yes, so who is it that had the bright idea to use Meng in trade negotiations?

The view among some officials is that she could be used as leverage with China in trade talks.

Some people say.

[T]he detention of Chinese tech giant Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Vancouver, British Columbia, triggered a market meltdown Thursday amid uncertainty about whether President Donald Trump can strike a lasting trade deal with Beijing.

  CNN

Trade wars are good and easy to win.

The Dow crashed by as much as 785 points before recovering on Thursday. It had slipped nearly 800 points earlier this week on investor concerns about the status of the trade talks. The drop came despite clear statements from Beijing indicating that President Xi Jinping intends to move ahead with the trade talks as planned.

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China has offered a restrained response, only expressing public outrage over the arrest of Meng, the daughter of the founder of Huawei. China's Commerce Department expressed confidence on Thursday that a trade agreement with the US could still be reached in time to hit a 90-day deadline, but it called on the US and Canada to "immediately correct the wrongdoing" and restore her "personal freedom."

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The timing of the arrest couldn't have been more awkward. Meng was detained in Canada on Saturday, the same day Trump sat down over a steak dinner to hash out an oral agreement with Xi in Buenos Aires.

The arrest wasn't made public until late Wednesday.

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The White House says Trump and his close aides were not aware the US planned to place an extradition request for Meng ahead of his dinner with Xi on Saturday.

John Bolton claims he knew.

Bolton told NPR that Huawei has represented "enormous concerns for years" for the US over the theft of American intellectual property and forced technology transfers, two notable issues the administration is seeking to resolve as part of the trade negotiations.

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"The Chinese will absolutely interpret it as being directly connected," said Dean Cheng, a Heritage Foundation senior research fellow on Chinese political and security affairs. "Having a better sense of how American bureaucracy works, I'd be more skeptical."

But, he added, "from the Chinese perspective, this is going to be absolutely seen as part and parcel of our negotiating practice."

Especially if some administration officials are saying exactly that. Who are these idiots?

Yet another administration official told CNN the US would seek Meng's extradition from Canada, adding that it could provide Washington with leverage against China as trade talks proceed.

WHO?  Is that CNN chyron over the image of Steve Mnuchin any hint, or is that simply happening becasue Mnuchin is discussing the stock market?  Is Bolton one of the idiots?  Kind of sounds like something he might come up with.

WHO?  These days of reporting without attribution allow for anything.  It's not new with the Trump era, but it's no wonder people just throw anything out there.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.