Huawei's Meng Wanzhou drawn closer to extradition

Huawei's financial chief Meng Wangzhou suffered a major blow in her legal fight in Canada Wednesday (May 27).

A judge there ruled that prosecutors cleared a critical hurdle to justify her extradition to the United States.

It paves the way for Meng to stand trial there for charges of fraud.

It also dashes hopes for an end to her 18-month house arrest in Vancouver.

The ruling could cause ties between Canada and China to crumble further.

It sparked immediate backlash from Beijing's embassy in Canada which said the country is quote 'accomplice to United States efforts to bring down Huawei and Chinese high-tech companies'.

Meng is a Chinese citizen - and was arrested two years ago on a warrant issues by US authorities.

Her fraud charges include misleading the bank HSBC about Huawei's relationship with a company operating in Iran.

That put HSBC at risk of fines for breaking U.S sanctions on Tehran.

Meng says she is innocent.

Her lawyers have argued that the charges should be thrown out, because Canada did not have sanctions against Iran.

But British Columbia judge Heather Holmes disagreed, saying the charges against Meng - are also crimes in Canada.

It means Meng's extradition will likely proceed to a second phase, starting in June, Ties between the U.S. and Canada are steadily unraveling, with disputes over trade and the future of Hong Kong.

China's Global Times newspaper later said the ruling quote "will make Canada a pathetic clown and a scapegoat in the fight between China and the US."

Shortly after her arrest two years ago, Beijing detained two Canadians on national security charges and froze imports of Canadian canola seed.

Canada's justice ministry said its lawyers were committed to moving ahead as fast as possible.