Huawei Goes on Trial in New York on Racketeering and Sanctions Charges

Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies is set to face trial in New York on criminal racketeering charges, with jury selection scheduled to begin Tuesday. The indictment accuses the company of orchestrating the theft of U.S. trade secrets and engaging in wire and bank fraud, alongside other alleged crimes.

Prosecutors further allege that Huawei and some of its subsidiaries conducted business in North Korea despite U.S. sanctions, and that it supplied surveillance equipment to Iran that was used to monitor protesters during the 2009 anti-government demonstrations.

Huawei's legal team has sought dismissal of the case, arguing in court filings that the allegations are overly vague, improperly extraterritorial, and do not constitute domestic wire or bank fraud.

The trial is the latest chapter in a long-running dispute between Washington and the world's largest supplier of wireless telecom gear. Huawei is barred from selling equipment to U.S. carriers over national security concerns and has faced similar restrictions from allies such as Canada and Britain.

U.S. authorities first announced criminal charges in early 2019, during the Trump administration, which also lobbied Western allies to exclude Huawei from next-generation high-speed wireless networks. Chinese officials have characterized the actions as "economic bullying," saying national security has been used as a pretext to suppress Chinese companies.

The case also involves Huawei's former chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Canada in 2018 on a U.S. extradition request. She was released in September 2021 after a prisoner swap that freed two Canadians detained in China, with the U.S. dropping its fraud charges against her.

Under sanctions restricting access to advanced processor chips, Huawei has pivoted toward developing its own semiconductors and other technologies, as demand for microprocessors surges amid the artificial-intelligence boom.