Huawei Technologies is seeking to dismiss a substantial portion of the criminal charges it faces in the United States. The Chinese telecommunications giant filed a motion in a Brooklyn federal court on Friday night, arguing that the charges lack evidence and are part of the Department of Justice’s “ill-founded” China Initiative, which has targeted Chinese companies and individuals since 2018.
In its filing, Huawei contends that the U.S. government has no proof of conspiracy and asserts that some charges relate to actions that occurred outside the United States. Additionally, the company disputes the bank fraud charges, which hinge on a “right to control” theory of fraud. Huawei noted that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected this legal theory in an unrelated case last year. Huawei, which has pleaded not guilty to the charges, argues that it has been singled out as a “prosecutorial target in search of a crime.” A trial is scheduled for January 5, 2026.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Brooklyn, represented by Breon Peace, declined to comment on the filing, while Huawei’s legal team did not immediately respond to requests for further comment. Huawei, based in Shenzhen, operates in over 170 countries and employs approximately 207,000 people worldwide.
The legal proceedings began in 2018, leading to the detention of Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Canada. Meng, daughter of Huawei’s founder, faced similar charges, but they were dropped in 2022. The broader China Initiative was launched during Donald Trump’s administration, aimed at countering what the U.S. viewed as Beijing’s attempts to steal intellectual property. The Biden administration, however, ended the program in 2022 following criticism that it fostered racial profiling and stifled scientific research.
Restrictions on Huawei’s access to American technology have been in place since 2019 over national security concerns, which Huawei denies.
Featured image courtesy of Tech Wire Asia
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