The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed new charges against Huawei, as it is looking to ratchet up the pressure on Huawei.
Huawei issued a media statement which read: “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. These new charges are without merit and are based largely on recycled civil disputes from last 20 years that have been previously settled, litigated and in some cases, rejected by federal judges and juries.”
Huawei said the government will not prevail on its charges, which we will prove to be both unfounded and unfair.
The DoJ charged Huawei and four of its subsidiaries- Huawei Device Co. Ltd. (Huawei Device), Huawei Device USA Inc. (Huawei USA), and Skycom Tech Co. Ltd. (Skycom), and Futurewei Technologies Inc. (Futurewei)- with racketeering and conspiracy claims to steal trade secrets.
The US previously charged the tech giant with money laundering claims as well as obstruction of justice and sanctions violations.
The new allegations made against the tech giant include stolen trade secret information as well as copyrighted works.
The DoJ issued a statement which read: "The means and methods of the alleged misappropriation included entering into confidentiality agreements with the owners of the intellectual property and then violating the terms of the agreements by misappropriating the intellectual property for the defendants' own commercial use, recruiting employees of other companies and directing them to misappropriate their former employers' intellectual property, and using proxies such as professors working at research institutions to obtain and provide the technology to the defendants."
Huawei denies the US allegations against them and Beijing has deemed the situation “economic bullying”.
China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Li, stated, “… It is important to provide a level playing field for all companies and a fair business environment for all companies. We believe every country will make their independent and wise choice.”