China’s Huawei Charged With Racketeering, Stealing Trade Secrets

Huawei Technologies Co. and two of its U.S. subsidiaries were charged with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to steal trade secrets in a federal indictment unsealed Thursday, opening another front in the Trump administration’s battle with the Chinese telecommunications firm.

The new charges amp up pressure on Huawei from the U.S., where Trump administration officials are fighting to convince allies to lock the telecommunications giant out of their next generation mobile networks because of national security concerns. The U.S. has long said Huawei could be coerced by Beijing into using its equipment to spy on, or disrupt, foreign networks, which the company denies.

The new indictment, filed in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., builds on allegations the U.S. leveled in January 2019 accusing Huawei of financial fraud and violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said the new charges related to a decadeslong effort by Huawei and its subsidiaries, in the U.S. and China, to steal intellectual property, including from six U.S. technology companies.

Th charges closely track a series of allegations by companies identifiable as Cisco Technology Inc., T-Mobile US Inc., Motorola Inc., and others documented in a Wall Street Journal article last year.