US unveils sweeping set of charges against Huawei

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has rejected US charges including fraud and conspiring to obstruct justice.

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, acting Attorney-General Matthew Whitaker, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray announce new criminal charges against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. Picture: AFP.

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has rejected a set of indictments brought against it by US authorities, deny any wrongdoing in the part of the company or its employees.

“Huawei is disappointed to learn of the charges brought against the company today,” it said in a statement. “The Company denies that it or its subsidiary or affiliate have committed any of the asserted violations of US law set forth in each ofthe indictments.”

The Trump administration had earlier unveiled a sweeping set of actions — including criminal charges — against China’s Huawei Technologies Co. in its latest salvo against the telecom giant, with authorities unsealing a set of indictments just days before US-China trade talks are set to resume.

In a pair of cases unsealed Monday, federal prosecutors accused Huawei of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran and of stealing trade secrets from a US business partner, portraying the company as a flouting U.S. laws while trying to do business in the country.

The cases, obtained in separate indictments in Brooklyn, New York and Washington state, were detailed by senior officials from the departments of Justice, Commerce and Homeland Security on the first day the government reopened after a 35-day shutdown — and just two days before negotiators for the US and China are set to resume trade talks in Washington, DC.

The US’s escalating, global campaign against Huawei has drawn in allies and enraged Beijing — which has detained a series of foreign citizens in recent weeks on suspicion of endangering China’s national security in what analysts view as retaliatory measures. Chinese officials have denied any links between the detentions in China and the pressure on Huawei.

In the newly unsealed indictments, the US alleged Huawei, its finance chief and other employees worked over years to deceive multiple global banks and the US government about its business in Iran. The indictment charged Huawei and two affiliates with bank fraud, violations of US sanctions and conspiring to obstruct justice related to the grand jury investigation.

The US also unsealed charges in the separate case accusing Huawei of stealing information from T-Mobile US Inc. about a phone-testing robot, “Tappy.” That 10-count indictment was returned by a grand jury on Jan. 16. That investigation, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, grew in part out of civil lawsuits against Huawei, including one in which a Seattle jury found Huawei liable for misappropriating robotic technology from T-Mobile’s Bellevue, Wash., lab, according to people familiar with the matter.

Huawei offered bonuses to employees who were successful in stealing confidential information from other companies, US prosecutors alleged.

The firm “is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms Meng (Wanzhou), and believes the US courts will ultimately reach the same conclusion,” it added, referring to Huawei’s chief financial officer who is awaiting an extradition hearing in Canada.

Despite being the world’s largest maker of telecommunications equipment and second-largest smartphone vendor, Huawei has been effectively locked out of the US market since a 2012 congressional report raised concerns that its gear could be used to spy on Americans. US officials have also long voiced concerns that Huawei steals technology and improperly makes use of government subsidies to fuel its rise.

Huawei has denied the allegations, but the Trump administration in recent months has sharply accelerated its campaign to counter the telecommunications giant’s global expansion as countries around the world rush to lock in contracts for next-generation 5G wireless technology. The 5G tech will make it easier to connect items like cars and appliances to the internet, but it will also render networks more vulnerable to cyberattacks.

The Wall St Journal, AFP