U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker at a press conference on Monday, January 28, 2019.
13 charges were unveiled on Monday, January 28, by the U.S. Department of Justice. Washington accused the Chinese telephone giant, in particular, of having tried to circumvent the sanctions against Iran.
According to the indictment, Huawei deceived an international bank into making millions of dollars in transactions with Iran. The Chinese telecom giant is also accused of trade secret theft, electronic fraud, and obstruction of justice.
U.S. authorities accuse Huawei and its subsidiaries of offering bonuses to workers who steal confidential information from companies around the world. The American justice system mentions as proof an email sent to Huawei employees, offering them bonuses in exchange for stolen data.
Type of formal notice
Behind Huawei, the Acting Secretary of Justice is sending a warning to the Chinese authorities. “China must be responsible for ensuring that its citizens and businesses comply with the law,” said Matthew Whitaker. A kind of formal notice, issued on the eve of the arrival of the Chinese Vice-Premier in Washington, who will meet Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Optimistic, the Treasury Secretary said he expects “significant progress” in the trade negotiations between the two countries.
Huawei claimed to be “disappointed.”
For his part, Huawei dismissed on Tuesday, January 29, the charges announced by the U.S. Department of Justice against the company, denying that he had committed any theft of technology or violation of sanctions against Iran.
“Huawei is disappointed to learn of the charges brought against the company today,” the company told Agence France-Presse. “The company denies that it, or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, committed the alleged violations of U.S. law set out in each of the indictments. We are not aware of any wrongdoing on the part of Ms. Meng and are confident that the U.S. courts will reach the same conclusion,” she said with reference to her CFO, currently being held in Canada and facing extradition to the US.
The trade war has just started between these two.
