Huawei under official US investigation into intellectual property theft - WSJ

Huawei accused of stealing trade secrets from US partners

Huawei is facing a criminal investigation in the US over claims of theft of trade secrets from US partners.

The investigation comes amid accusations by the US government that the company had ignored US organisations' intellectual property rights and had stolen US-developed technology.

It is not the first time that Huawei has been accused of intellectual property theft, with such claims going back almost two decades.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the criminal probe launched against Huawei has already reached an "advanced" stage of the criminal inquiry and an indictment may follow soon.

The report finds that the investigation into Huawei stems from several previous civil lawsuits against the Chinese communications hardware maker.

It specifically mentions a lawsuit against Huawei in 2014 when T-Mobile accused Huawei of stealing technology for a robot testing mobile phones. A jury in Seattle found that the company was liable for misappropriating the robot technology.

The US investigation comes amid a growing trade war between the US and China over claims by the US that China is an unfair trade partner.

And Huawei has been at centre stage of the dispute between the Trump administration and Beijing almost from the start.

The tensions escalated in December when Canadian authorities arrested Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei's founder, over a US-issued arrest warrant. She faces extradition to the US from Canada over allegations that she helped the company to violate US sanctions against Iran.

On top of that, the company is facing growing criticism from US federal agencies and lawmakers for its close ties to China's government.

Many believe that its presence at the heart of national communications networks across the world poses a security threat, with the fear that the government in Beijing could compel Huawei, or people who work for it, to used their privileged position to spy on network traffic.

Earlier this week, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei dismissed such claims and called for more cooperation between US and Chinese businesses.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has announced that it is considering a draconian executive order banning US companies from using Huawei products.