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{Good evening.}
We begin tonight with our coverage on a high-stakes Canada-China prisoner swap.
Beijing and the Chinese people are obviously elated by the news that Meng Wanzhou is finally back in China after what Meng described as a harrowing ordeal.
Canada's two Michaels also landed in Canada on Saturday morning local time after spending some 1,000 days in China.
This, as a political drama in which Canada, China and the U.S. were embroiled culminated in that prisoner swap.
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China rolled out the red carpet for returning Huawei Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, as she landed in Shenzhen's Bao'an International Airport.
Donning a red dress matching the colour of the Chinese flag, Meng gave a few well-chosen words to the Chinese people and President Xi Jinping, expressing her gratitude for their unwavering support over some 1,000 days in house arrest in one of her multimillion-dollar mansions in Vancouver.
Speaking in Mandarin, not only did she express her gratitude for the Chinese people's and government's support, she was also grateful for being able to return to the warm embrace of the motherland, as well as that of the ecstatic Chinese people. "Finally I'm home. President Xi cares about the safety of every Chinese citizen. He has borne in mind my case. I'm deeply moved. I have finally returned to the warm embrace of the motherland. As an ordinary Chinese citizen going through this difficult time, I always felt the warmth and concern of the (Communist) party, the nation and the people." Said Meng.
She also wished her motherland an early happy birthday, prior to China's National Day on October 1st.
Tearful Chinese people welcomed her momentous homecoming joyously, and thanked her for displaying loyalty to the country.
Meng Wanzhou was detained in 2018, the year when the world witnessed the beginning of a parade of political events. Detained since December 2018 at the behest of U.S. authorities, Meng Wanzhou faced a number of U.S. extradition proceedings against her.
But before being able to take the weight off her feet as she landed back in her motherland, she had experienced so many hardships she had to described the past 3 years she spent in Canada as a harrowing ordeal.
Meantime, Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig also landed in Canada early Saturday.
The men were detained in China in what is considered tit for tat back in December 2018, when Meng was detained.
"It's wonderful, it's fantastic to be back home in Canada, and I'm immensely grateful to everybody who worked so hard to bring both of us back home." Said Kovrig.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who went to the airport in Calgary to welcome them back, was elated by this special homecoming, welcoming China's decision to free the two Canadians.
China's tit for tat was labelled "hostage politics". Be that as it may, China has been increasingly vociferous, describing the fraud charges against Huawei and Meng as a politically motivated attempt to stultify China's economic and technological development, especially as 5G is an intrinsic part of Huawei Technologies.
There has been a lot of conjecture across the globe about whether the deal was reached after U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had a phone call.
As part of the deal with Meng, the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to dismiss the fraud charges against her in December 2022, exactly four years after her arrest. But the charges against Huawei technologies remain.
In spite of the culmination of this political drama, many believe more tensions between the U.S. and China are in prospect.
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