Huawei Technologies Co lashed out at the US government Tuesday, accusing Washington of orchestrating a campaign to intimidate its employees and launching cyber-attacks to infiltrate its internal network.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s largest technology company claimed the American government had instructed law enforcement agencies to threaten and attempt to manipulate its employees.<\/p>\n
Huawei also accused the US of launching attacks against its networks, the company said in a statement without saying how it obtained that information.<\/p>\n
The accusations ratchet up tensions between Huawei and the Trump administration, which has accused the networking giant of aiding Beijing in espionage and labeled it a national security risk. Washington has blacklisted the Chinese company, curbing the sales of the technology Huawei needs to make phones and telecommunications equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been using every tool at its disposal \u2013 including both judicial and administrative powers, as well as a host of other unscrupulous means \u2013 to disrupt the normal business operations of Huawei and its partners,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n
Other measures included \u201cinstructing law enforcement to threaten, menace, coerce, entice, and incite both current and former Huawei employees to turn against the company and work for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Representatives for the US National Security Council didn\u2019t immediately respond to requests for comment outside of normal hours.<\/p>\n
Huawei has become a focal point for US-Chinese tensions, regarded by some as a bargaining chip in sensitive trade negotiations. The company is grappling with an existential threat after Washington blocked it from purchasing American technology, cutting off vital supplies from Qualcomm Inc. chipsets to Google\u2019s Android operating software.<\/p>\n
The US has also urged countries and companies to reject Huawei technology in their next generation of wireless networks, telling allies it could put their citizens\u2019 data at risk of espionage.<\/p>\n
Those efforts squeezed a company that had been on the cusp of dominating fifth-generation networking, the technology that will underpin future modern economies. Billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei warned in an internal memo in August his company faced a \u201clive or die moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The smartphone maker\u2019s statement came in response to an Aug. 30 Wall Street Journal report, which cited unidentified sources as saying the Justice Department was investigating the alleged theft of patents by Huawei. The company again denied it had ever stolen technology, then launched into a litany of accusations against the Trump administration itself.<\/p>\n
Among the claims it listed: that the US was detaining shipments, denying visas, sending federal agents to employees\u2019 homes and even impersonating Huawei staff to entrap legitimate workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe strongly condemn the malign, concerted effort by the US government to discredit Huawei and curb its leadership position in the industry,\u201d the company said. \u201cNo company becomes a global leader in their field through theft.\u201d<\/p>\n