On Friday, Meng Wanzhou, the Chief Financial Officer of Huawei, returned to China from Canada after coming to an agreement with US prosecutors to resolve the bank fraud case against her, a source of tension between China and the United States. Shortly after this news, the two Canadians who had been arrested following Meng's detention were released from Chinese prisons and were on their way back to Canada. Despite Beijing denying any connection between the arrests, some speculated about a "prisoner swap" involving the White House, a notion that White House press secretary Jen Psaki dismissed, emphasizing that the deferred prosecution agreement with Meng was solely the decision of the independent Department of Justice. "This is a law enforcement issue," she stated, before confirming that two weeks before the announcements, China's Xi Jinping had mentioned Meng's case in a call on Sept 9, and President Biden had pushed for the release of the two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who had been detained in China for over 1,000 days. Psaki clarified that the leaders had discussed the cases but there was no negotiation involved. She also mentioned that she did not have any information on whether Biden was aware of the negotiations between Meng's lawyers and the Justice Department. Meng was arrested in Canada on a US warrant, and was charged with bank and wire fraud for allegedly deceiving HSBC in 2013 about the company's business dealings in Iran. The extradition saga, which has spanned several years, has been a major point of contention in the deteriorating relationship between Beijing and Washington. Chinese officials have suggested that dropping the case could help resolve the diplomatic deadlock. Psaki clarified that the recent agreement does not mean the US has softened its stance on China. She reiterated that the US will continue to address China's unfair economic practices, coercive actions globally, and human rights violations, emphasizing that the relationship is one of competition rather than conflict. In a virtual meeting earlier in September, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the United States to address a list of demands, which included dropping the case against Meng, in order to improve relations. Wang stated that the United States now holds the responsibility to take action. However, US officials have denied any claims that negotiations were made for Meng's release in exchange for other concessions. President Xi recently announced at the United Nations that China would not build new coal-fired power projects abroad, a move that US climate envoy John Kerry had been pushing for to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement. The White House emphasized that they were not involved in China's decision-making process regarding this announcement. "The primary reason for the movement on coal is China acting in its own self-interest," stated the official. "They likely recognized that they had no leverage and wouldn't gain anything from holding onto it." Meng was greeted as a hero in China, with official media speculating that her release could improve strained US-China relations. Though some Republican senators denounced the Biden administration for caving to Beijing's requests, analysts disagreed with that assessment. Bonnie Glaser, an expert on Asia at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, believes that the agreement made by the PRC for Meng's release was discussed during the Trump administration. Meng had to admit to wrongdoing, which she ultimately did. Glaser does not view this as capitulation. The Justice Department is still getting ready for a trial against Huawei.