China's Foreign Ministry has lodged a solemn representation with the Canadian government, after Ottawa approved a decision to move forward with extradition proceedings against Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. In an official statement, Beijing said it is 'utterly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes the move'. The statement says that both Canada and the US are abusing their bilateral extradition treaty. It also said that taking coercive measures at random Chinese citizens is a severe violation of Chinese citizen's lawful rights. China has urged the US to immediately withdraw the warrant and extradition request against Meng, and is urging Canada to release her immediately. CGTN's Jim Spellman has more on the case.

Meng Wanzhou is scheduled to appear in court March 6th - that's when Canadian authorities will begin deciding whether Meng - the daughter of Huawei's founder - will be sent to the U.S. for trial. The process could take months or even years.

China's embassy in Canada released a statement blasting the decision. It reads in part: "This is not a merely judicial case, but a political persecution against a Chinese high-tech enterprise."

Meng was arrested in Vancouver in December-charged in the U.S. with fraud over allegations she lied to banks about a Huawei-related company selling U.S. computer components to Iran violating U.S. sanctions. Huawei has denied wrongdoing and China is calling for Meng's release.

LU KANG, SPOKESPERSON CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY "Justice will prevail in the end. Now, in fact, not only Chinese and Canadian citizens, but the whole world is extremely interested to hear how the Canadian government answers this question."

In a separate U.S. case, Huawei pleaded not guilty to charges related to alleged theft of trade secrets from T-Mobile. A criminal trial is set to begin next year.

These legal cases are playing out as the U.S., Australia and New Zealand have banned government agencies from using Huawei equipment, alleging its hardware poses a security threat.

MIKE POMPEO US SECRETARY OF STATE "Our task has been to share with the world the risks associated with that technology."

No hard evidence has been released to back those claims and Huawei denies it hands over data to the Chinese government.

JIM SPELLMAN WASHINGTON "Huawei is pushing back -- running a full-page ad in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other U.S. papers."

It reads in part: "I am writing to you in the hopes that we can come to understand each other better. In recent years, the US government has developed some misunderstandings about us. We would like to draw your attention to the facts." -Catherine Chen, Huawei Director of the Board

The company says it operates successfully in more than 170 countries, often providing service in regions where western companies can't or won't operate.

Jim Spellman, CGTN Washington.