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US bullying Huawei employees to spy on company

by on04 September 2019


Playing dirty claims the company

China’s Huawei Technologies said the US government had instructed law enforcement to “coerce” and “entice” its employees to turn against the company.

 

Huawei said the US government was using its judicial and administrative powers as well as other means to disrupt its business and that of its partners.

Huawei said in its public statement that staff and Huawei partners were subjected to unlawful searches, detention and arrest while FBI agents visited some employees at their homes and pressured to collect information on the company.

According to the Huawei document, eight employees, several of them U.S. citizens, were involved in the incidents. All of them are mid- to high-level executives. The latest incident happened on 28 August when an employee from Huawei’s U.S. office informed the company of a visit from the FBI asking the person to be an informant.

A Justice Department spokesman said that while they do not comment on specific investigations, “in all matters, our investigative techniques comply with the law and all subjects of investigations enjoy the same rights to due process afforded by our Constitution and safeguarded by an independent judiciary.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China opposed US moves to target a specific company without providing any evidence.

“This kind of behavior is not only disgraceful, it is also immoral,” Geng said, adding that the United States should stop its “irrational” pressure on Chinese companies and instead create a non-discriminatory environment for their operations.

Since the start of this year, at least three US employees have been contacted by US law enforcement agencies, the Huawei document said.

Beyond the accusations of putting pressure on its employees, Huawei also claimed that the U.S. government was launching cyber attacks on the company and mobilizing companies that work with Huawei to bring unsubstantiated accusations. The document did not provide specific details about these efforts.

The company also accused U.S. authorities of selectively launching criminal investigations based on civil cases that have already been settled and filing criminal charges based on claims of technology theft.

“The fact remains that none of Huawei’s core technology has been the subject of any criminal case brought against the company, and none of the accusations levied by the US government has been supported with sufficient evidence,” the company said.

 

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