China’s Huawei Technologies must face fraud and racketeering charges, says U.S. judge

A US judge has ruled that Huawei Technologies must face criminal charges in a 16-count federal indictment alleging technology theft, racketeering, wire and bank fraud, and other crimes. The judge rejected Huawei's request to dismiss the allegations, saying its arguments were premature. The US accuses Huawei of stealing trade secrets, installing surveillance equipment in Iran, and doing business in North Korea despite US sanctions. The company is also accused of using a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment to Iran in violation of US sanctions. Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada in 2018 on a US extradition request but was released in 2021 in a prisoner swap. Chinese officials have accused the US of "economic bullying" and improperly using national security as a pretext to oppress Chinese companies. Huawei's lawyers argued that the US allegations were too vague and some were "impermissibly extraterritorial," but the judge disagreed. The company has struggled to maintain its market share under US sanctions that have blocked its access to most US processor chips and technology. In response, Huawei has ramped up its own development of computer chips and shifted its focus to the Chinese market and other products not affected by US sanctions. The ruling is a significant blow to Huawei, which has been a target of the US government's national security concerns.