ANKARA

China's telecom equipment giant Huawei has appointed Meng Wanzhou, who returned to China in 2021 after nearly three years of detention in Canada, as the conglomerate's rotating chairwoman, one of the highest positions at the company, the local media reported on Tuesday.

Wanzhou, who was serving as Huawei's chief financial officer before her elevation, will assume her new responsibilities from April 1, the local English daily Global Times reported.

She returned to China in September 2021 after three years of house arrest in Canada for allegedly violating the US sanctions against Iran.

Wanzhou had been under house arrest since Dec. 1, 2018, in Vancouver after Canadian officials acted on an American extradition request to arrest and deport her.

Her detention in Canada resulted in outrage from China, who demanded her immediate release shortly after she was arrested in 2018.

Little more than a week after her arrest, Beijing detained two Canadians – former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor – and charged them with spying. The arrests were widely seen as retaliation for Wanzhou's detention.