US charges Huawei with conspiring to violate Iran sanctions
The United States yesterday announced criminal charges against China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, escalating a fight with the world's biggest telecommunications equipment maker, and coming days before trade talks between Washington and Beijing.
The Justice Department charged Huawei and its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou with conspiring to violate US sanctions on Iran by doing business with Tehran through a subsidiary it tried to hide and that was reported by Reuters in 2012.
In a separate case, the Justice Department said Huawei stole robotic technology from carrier T-Mobile US Inc. Huawei has said that the two companies settled their dispute in 2017.
Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei's founder, was arrested in Canada in December and is fighting extradition to the United States. The charges against Meng, which include bank and wire fraud, were not unsealed until yesterday.
Her arrest enraged China, which responded by arresting two Canadians on national security grounds.
Beijing and Washington are engaging in high-level talks this week as part of negotiations intended to walk back trade tension between the globe's two largest economies.
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the Huawei charges are "wholly separate" from the trade negotiations.
US authorities accuse Meng of playing a lead role in the scheme to use a subsidiary to conduct business in Iran in violation of US sanctions against Tehran.
Meng has said that she is innocent and Huawei did not respond to requests for comment on the charges announced yesterday.
President Donald Trump said in December he could intervene in the case if it would serve national security interests or help close a trade deal with China.
The Trump administration is trying to prevent American companies from buying Huawei routers and switches and pressing allies to do the same. US security experts are concerned that the equipment could be used to spy on the United States.
Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei (photo), denies his company's products would be used by the Chinese government to spy.
China tensions
The charges against Meng and Huawei cite stories from Reuters in 2012 and 2013 that said Huawei’s Skycom unit had sought to sell goods to Iran in violation of US laws.
The indictment noted that the denials from Huawei in the stories were relied upon by financial institutions "in determining whether to continue their banking relationships with Huawei and its subsidiaries."
Also, according to the indictment, the FBI in July 2007 interviewed Huawei founder Ren and US authorities say he falsely told them Huawei did not violate US export laws.
In August 2013, Meng met with an executive from one bank, which is not identified in the indictment. Sources said the bank is HSBC Holdings Plc, which paid US$1.92 billion (RM7.89 billion at current rate) in 2012 for violating US anti-money-laundering and sanctions laws.
During the meeting, Meng used a PowerPoint presentation that misrepresented Huawei operations in Iran and ownership and control of Skycom, according to the indictment.
If the banks knew about Huawei’s violations of Iranian sanctions, they would have "reevaluated their banking relationships with Huawei," which included US dollar and Euro clearing.
The Justice Department has confirmed that HSBC is not under investigation in this case, HSBC said in a statement last month.
Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat and the vice-chairperson of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, praised the charges brought on Monday. "It has been clear for some time that Huawei poses a threat to our national security, and I applaud the Trump administration for taking steps to finally hold the company accountable," he said.
Warner has been active in congressional efforts to address technology threats from China and introduced a bill in January to create a White House office to fight state-sponsored technology theft and defend critical supply chains.
FBI director Christopher Wray said the Huawei cases, which were filed in New York and Washington state, "expose Huawei’s brazen and persistent actions to exploit American companies and financial institutions, and to threaten the free and fair global marketplace”.
He also said he is concerned about Huawei devices in US telecommunications networks. “That kind of access could give a foreign government the capacity to maliciously modify or steal information, conduct undetected espionage, or exert pressure or control."
Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said the alleged criminal activity at Huawei "goes back at least 10 years and goes all the way to the top of the company".
- Reuters
The US has no authority to force nationals from other countries to comply with US domestic laws. US sanctions is a us law and does not extend its jurisdiction to other countries. Also it is practicing double standard. because its own US companies violated US saanctions but no arrest waere made and they merely escaped with a fine.
The West are now in full throttle upping their widespread propaganda to further mold public mind about the 'destabilizing rise of the evil' communist China under President Xi's policy of "Made in China 2025". Just in a duration of 2 weeks before the end of 2018, the following articles made headlines in all major established media like The New York Times, The Guardians, Washington Post etc, with such titles :1."China using it's 'Belt and Road' program for military purpose, expert says"2."China sees cyber espionage as a 'necessary part of it's national strategy, expert says"3."Top finance executives are losing confidence in China's economy, survey shows"4."NYT : Marriet Hotel cyber attack traced to Chinese intelligence-gathering effort"5."Alibaba's Jack Ma has been a Communist Party member since 1980s"But it has been established, as revealed by Wikileaks, the US government have cyber hacking tools to hack systems around the world that masquerade as though the attack is from Russia or China. Wikileaks had revealed that the US carries out espionage even on all US allies....for example, the cat's out of the bag that US has attacked Australia previously when CIA hacked Australian IT systems and masquerading is as China's work. The biggest spy and surveillance networks in the world is in fact the Five Eyes alliance( UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand ). Even the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel's mobile phone is under surveillance by CIA. All her phone calls and each message is monitored according to the PRISM program.UBS recently countered the propaganda that top financiers are avoiding the Chinese market, with announcement that China is still a top pick for global investors despite trade tensions. The documentary "The Coming War on China" seemed to support the view that the West, lead by US, is determined to put a stop to the rise of China by any means, including military.
China’s ambassador to Canada has accused the country of “white supremacy” in calling for the release of two Canadians detained in China last month. Ambassador Lu Shaye said that western countries are employing a “double standard” in demanding the immediate release of the Canadians. “The reason why some people are used to arrogantly adopting double standards is due to western egotism and white supremacy,” Lu wrote. “What they have been doing is not showing respect for the rule of law, but mocking and trampling the rule of law.” He pointed to the monitoring and spying programs carried out by the US National Security Agency and the Five Eyes alliance countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US). “Something is considered as ‘safeguarding national security’ when it is done by western countries. But it is termed ‘conducting espionage’ when done by China. What’s the logic?” he wrote.
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