China tells US to stop 'unreasonable crackdown' on Huawei

BEIJING (AP) — China called on the U.S. government today to "stop the unreasonable crackdown" on Huawei after the U.S. stepped up pressure on the tech giant by indicting it on charges of stealing technology and violating sanctions on Iran, complicating high-level trade talks between the countries about to begin in Washington.

The Chinese government will "firmly defend" its companies, a foreign ministry statement said. It gave no indication whether Beijing might retaliate for the charges against Huawei, China's first global tech brand and the biggest maker of switching gear for phone and internet companies.

U.S. pressure on China is set to intensify further when intelligence chiefs brief Congress Tuesday on worldwide threats, which are expected to include Chinese cyberespionage and Huawei.

The charges could dim prospects for U.S.-Chinese trade talks due to start Wednesday in Washington. Unless the two sides can forge an accord by March 1, U.S. tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese products are set to rise from 10 percent to 25 percent.

Huawei Technologies Ltd., which has spent a decade battling U.S. accusations it is a front for Chinese spying, denied committing any of the violations cited in Monday's indictment.

The foreign ministry complained Washington has "mobilized state power" to hurt Chinese companies "in an attempt to strangle fair and just operations."

"We strongly urge the United States to stop the unreasonable crackdown on Chinese companies including Huawei," said the statement read on state TV. It said Beijing will defend the "lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies" but gave no details.

The charges unsealed Monday by the Justice Department accused Huawei of trying to take a piece of a robot and other technology from a T-Mobile lab that was used to test smartphones. Huawei passed Apple in mid-2018 as the second-biggest global smartphone brand after Samsung.