Huawei, Meng face new US charges

Chinese tech giant Huawei has been hit with fresh US criminal charges alleging a “decades-long” effort to steal trade secrets from American companies.

A US indictment unsealed in New York alleges Huawei and its proxies conspired “to misappropriate intellectual property” from six US firms as part of a strategy to grow and become the world’s largest telecom equipment maker.

The new charges, including a federal racketeering allegation, add to an indictment unsealed in January 2019 that alleged Huawei stole trade secrets from US carrier T-Mobile. The indictment names Huawei and several subsidiaries, as well as the company’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who has been arrested in Canada over a related probe into Huawei’s violations of US sanctions.

Huawei called the latest charges “unfounded and unfair” and predicted the case would be dismissed. “This new indictment is part of the Justice Department’s attempt to irrevocably damage Huawei’s reputation and its business for reasons related to competition rather than law enforcement,” the company said. “The ‘racketeering enterprise’ that the government charged today is nothing more than a contrived repackaging of a handful of civil allegations that are almost 20 years old.”