Huawei is alleging that the U.S. government is coercing and enticing its employees to reveal insider information in order to turn against the company.
According to a media statement, Huawei said that for the past several months, the U.S. government has been “leveraging its political and diplomatic influence to lobby other governments to ban Huawei equipment.”
“Furthermore, it has been using every tool at its disposal — including both judicial and administrative powers, as well as a host of other unscrupulous means — to disrupt the normal business operations of Huawei and its partners,” Huawei said in the statement.
Huawei also alleges that its partners were “subjected to unlawful searches, detention and even arrest while several of its employees were visited by FBI agents at their homes and pressured to collect information on the company,” TechRadar reported.
According to the report, eight employees, several of those are U.S. citizens, were involved.
The employees are either mid-level or high-level executives and the most recent incident occurred in August, the report indicated. That visit involved an FBI agent asking the employee to become an informant.
Huawei also alleges that the U.S. government has been trying to get companies that work with the China-based company to “bring unsubstantiated accusations” against it.
“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 have been supported with sufficient evidence. We strongly condemn the malign, concerted effort by the US government to discredit Huawei and curb its leadership position in the industry,” Huawei said.
This latest development occurred as the U.S. and China are in the middle of a trade war. U.S. President Donald Trump banned U.S.-based companies from working with Huawei, but later slightly lifted the ban.
The U.S. alleges that Huawei is a national security threat and works with the Chinese government to use back doors to spy on citizens.
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
