Alwaght- The US has charged Monday Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei with a number of crimes, escalating tensions on the eve of trade talks this week between the two countries.
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker told reporters in Washington a pair of indictments had been unsealed in two separate cases, NBC News reported.
The first indictment alleges that Huawei and one of the company’s subsidiaries, Skycom Tech Co. Ltd., engaged in bank fraud and wire fraud and evaded US sanctions against Iran, Vox reported.
According to the news site, the second indictment alleges, that, starting in 2012, Huawei tried to steal trade secrets from T-Mobile. The case stemmed from a 2014 civil suit.
China has previously criticized the US’s efforts to crack down on Huawei. “One country has the right to protect the information security of its own, but that gives it no reason to impede or even strangle the lawful and legitimate operations of an enterprise, just based on some non-existent excuses and by the pretext of security,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a press conference on Monday in response to a question about the US pressuring allies to reconsider its ties to Huawei.
