U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou is “not a bargaining chip” in the country’s trade war with China, despite previous comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that he would intervene in her extradition if it helped him win a trade deal.

Speaking at a press conference Thursday alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland in Ottawa, Pompeo said Meng’s extradition from Canada to the U.S. was a legal matter.

“It is a legal process by the United States Department of Justice designed to bring someone that we believe we have sufficient information to bring back to the United States under the agreement between the United States and Canada,” he said.

In December — days after Meng was arrested by Canadian authorities and Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were subsequently detained by China in what many believe was done in retaliation for her arrest — Trump told Bloomberg in an interview that he would “certainly intervene” if it was good for securing a trade deal with China.

Eight months later, Canada-China relations remain poor over Meng’s planned extradition to the U.S. to face criminal trial over Huawei’s alleged circumvention of American sanctions on Iran, as well as the detentions of Spavor and Kovrig, which Canada calls “arbitrary.”

Meng’s extradition is currently before the courts in British Columbia. New court documents from her legal team allege Canadian officials had violated her rights during her arrest.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and China are in the midst of a large trade war with global economic implications.

Pompeo, who was on his first state visit to Canada as U.S.’s top diplomat, also chided a reporter who had asked him whether abandoning the extradition request could secure the release of the two Canadians.

“Your question took the Chinese line. Your question connected these two things. These are deeply different,” he said.

“They want to talk about these two as if they’re their equivalent, as if they’re morally similar, which they fundamentally are not.”

Pompeo said the detentions in China are “fundamentally different as a human rights matter, as a rule of law matter.”

“These are fundamentally different matters than the Canadian decision to use their due process and the rule of law to behave in a way that’s deeply consistent with the way decent nations work,” he said.

Beijing has long suggested Meng’s arrest and extradition is politically motivated, as the Trump administration has increasingly butted heads with China on trade, technology and national security.

Pompeo also said Trump had “made unambiguous, America’s concerns” regarding the detentions of Kovrig and Spavor during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 meeting in Japan in June — the first time the American side has said publicly that it occurred.

READ MORE: Trudeau says he can confirm Trump raised detention issue with Xi at G20

Freeland on Thursday also emphasized that a “great number” of Canadian allies have spoken out against the detentions.

Earlier today, Pompeo met with Freeland and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill. Trudeau and Trump are set to attend the G7 meetings in France this weekend, where China and global trade are set to among hot topics.

Pompeo reaffirmed U.S. support for Canada on the detentions, saying this morning that the U.S. government is working “diligently” on the file.

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