U.S.: Huawei stole secrets, violated sanctions

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday unsealed an indictment charging Chinese tech giant Huawei with theft, fraud, and violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. The United States seeks to extradite Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer and daughter of the company’s founder, who was detained Dec. 1 in Canada and is out on bail. She has a court hearing Tuesday in Vancouver.

Huawei is charged with stealing trade secrets from telecommunications company T-Mobile, including information about its touchscreen testing robot “Tappy.” Acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker accused Huawei of “secretly taking photos of the robot, measuring it, and even stealing it—stealing a piece of it.”

The Chinese company is also accused of using a Hong Kong front business, Skycom, to trade with Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. Prosecutors allege Meng lied to banks about those dealings.

Monday’s announcement came as China and the United States plan to resume trade talks this week. “We urge the U.S. to immediately withdraw the arrest warrant against Miss Meng Wanzhou and stop making such kinds of extradition requests,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.