US in criminal probe of China’s Huawei: report

US authorities are in the “advanced” stages of a criminal probe that could result in an indictment of Chinese technology giant Huawei, a report said Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, said the Department of Justice is looking into allegations of theft of trade secrets from Huawei’s US business partners, including a T-Mobile robotic device used to test smartphones.

Huawei and the Department of Justice declined to comment on the media report. However, Huawei noted that “Huawei and T-Mobile settled their disputes in 2017 following a US jury verdict finding neither damage, unjust enrichment nor willful and malicious conduct by Huawei in T-Mobile’s trade secret claim.” The move would further escalate tensions between the US and China after the arrest last year in Canada of Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is the daughter of the company founder. The case of Meng, under house arrest awaiting proceedings, has inflamed US-China and Canada-China relations.

Two Canadians have been detained in China since Meng’s arrest and a third has been sentenced to death on drug trafficking charges -- moves observers see as attempts by Beijing to pressure Ottawa over her case. Huawei, the second-largest global smartphone maker and biggest producer of telecommunications equipment, has for years been under scrutiny in the US over purported links to the Chinese government. Huawei’s reclusive founder Ren Zhengfei, in a rare media interview Tuesday, forcefully denied accusations that his firm engaged in espionage on behalf of the Chinese government.