The United States Alleges China Giant Stole Trade Secrets and Violated Iran Sanctions

January 30, 2019

The United States of America has officially filed criminal charges against Huawei, one of China’s largest smartphone producers, and has accused the tech giant of stealing trade secrets as well as violating the Iran sanctions imposed by President Trump in 2018. The agency also revealed formal charges against Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer. Meng was arrested in Canada in December as per the request of the United States. Meng is the daughter of Huawei’s founder and one of the most powerful industrialists in all of China. The United States plans to extradite Meng for a proper trial.

What Is Huawei?

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., is a tech giant headquartered in Shenzen, China that produces technologies such as smartphones, laptops, smart watches, and telecom technologies for future 5G networks. Huawei cell phones and other Huawei technologies are commonly known around the world outside of the United States, as Huawei phones and laptops are loved by many throughout the tech industry.

Founded in 1977, the company has made great progress in growing as Huawei products are officially sold in 170 countries, with reported revenue of $92.549 billion USD for 2017. However, in April of 2018 Huawei officially announced that they would pull out of the U.S. consumer market, citing a hostile U.S. government. It’s also speculated that Huawei products will be banned officially by the U.S. government.

Some of Huawei’s most popular products are:

Huawei P20 Pro
Huawei Mate 10
Huawei Mate 9
Huawei Watch
Huawei Matebook X Pro
Huawei P10
Huawei Honor 8
Huawei Mate SE

Why is the U.S. Government Concerned with Huawei?

For years now there has been a huge concern coming from the United States government in regard to Huawei and its alleged connections to the CCP, or the Chinese Communist Party. The United States has alleged that Huawei is openly sharing the data it collects with the CCP and many U.S. tech sellers have pulled Huawei from their shelves as a result.

Ren Czhen Fei, the founder of Huawei, is a former serviceman of the PLA. The PLA is a military branch which is under the strict control of the CCP. There is speculation that the company has a great relationship with the CCP and cooperates as one would expect from a company that has close relations with a government entity. Huawei has also been accused of assisting the China government in its attempts to censor opponents as well as their mass surveillance programs.

Meng Wanzhou’s Arrest in Canada

While traveling to Mexico, Meng was arrested in Vancouver, Canada while transferring to her connecting flight as per request of the United States. She has been accused of personally being involved in the stealing of trade secrets as well as violating Iran sanctions. The United States plans to extradite Meng and if convicted, Meng faces up to 30 years in prison.

China’s Response

China has not taken these allegations lightly, as they have made it very clear that this is only a U.S. attempt to “smear” China and its successful companies – especially during the ‘trade war’ between the two countries. While most of us are only used to U.S. and China problems, it came as a shock to many that China is now targeting Canada. China was extremely angry with Canada for following through with the arrest of Meng and is now using Canadian citizens in China to send a message back to both Canada and the world.

Following a report made by the Global News which claimed China would ‘take revenge’ if Canada does not free Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, 13 Canadians have been detained in China. These detainees have reported “cruel” treatment at the hands of the Chinese officers.

More interestingly, China also announced that they would issue a re-trial for Canadian citizen Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, who was originally convicted on drug smuggling charges. Schellenberg had requested an appeal on his sentence. Many speculate that the Chinese government is now using him to send a message to the West, as his re-trial will officially re-sentence Schellenberg to death. China news stated that his original sentencing was ‘too light’ and also has nothing to do with the conflict currently going on in regard to Huawei.