China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Wednesday called on the international community to firmly oppose the U.S.' request for extradition of Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, stressing that the U.S. is taking unreasonable moves and is engaging in bullying tactics.

"I would like to stress once again that the request for extradition made by the U.S. to Canada is based on the claim that Huawei may have violated U.S. sanctions against Iran," Hua said during a regular press briefing. 

“If the U.S. takes unreasonable action against the executives of Chinese companies on the grounds of the so-called Iran sanctions bill, which is, at its root, neither in accordance with international law nor with any justification, then its behavior is highly political; in fact, it is a kind of scientific and technological bullying behavior,” Hua added. 

"The U.S.' real purpose is very clear," Hua said, noting that "the country is doing everything to suppress China's high-tech enterprises and curb China's legitimate right to development." 

“I think the international community's people of insight and justice should be firmly opposed to this,” Hua added. 

U.S. to request extradition of Meng as deadline looms

The U.S. confirmed Tuesday its plan to make a formal request to the Canadian government for the extradition of Meng ahead of a nearing deadline. 

"We will continue to pursue the extradition of defendant Ms. Meng Wanzhou, and will meet all deadlines set by the US/Canada Extradition Treaty," said Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, in a statement. 

"We greatly appreciate Canada's continuing support in our mutual efforts to enforce the rule of law,” he added. 

Meng was arrested on December 1 in Vancouver at the request of Washington for allegedly violating the U.S. sanctions against Iran. 

The U.S. authorities have 60 days from Meng's arrest to file a request for her extradition, with the deadline falling on January 30. 

Earlier this week, Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. David MacNaughton told Canadian media that Washington has informed Ottawa of its plan to proceed with a formal extradition request to Meng, without saying when this would happen. 

After the request, Canada's Justice Department is expected to have 30 more days to consider whether the extradition will be authorized.