The US government has allegedly instructed law enforcement agencies to “coerce” and “entice” Huawei employees to turn against it according to a recent media statement from the company.
During its ongoing trade war with China, the US put the world's second largest smartphone maker on an Entity List back in May which resulted in the company losing access to US components and technology including Google's apps and services for Android devices.
In Huawei's media statement, the company alleges that the US government has made carrying out its day to day operations increasingly difficult, saying:
“For the past several months, the US 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.”
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US government interference
To make matters worse, Huawei also said 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.
The company said that eight of its employees, several of which are US citizens, were involved in the incidents. All of these employees are either mid-level or high-level executives and the latest incident occurred in August when an employee at Huawei's US office told the company that the FBI had visited them and asked that they become an informant.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang commented on Huawei's media statement by saying that the country opposes US moves designed at targeting a specific company without providing any evidence at all.
In addition to trying to coerce its employees, the company also claims that the US government has launched cyberattacks against it and has mobilized companies that work with Huawei to bring unsubstantiated accusations against the firm.
Huawei concluded its media statement by denying any accusations against the company as sufficient evidence has not yet been brought forth, saying:
“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.”
Via Reuters
