Huawei denies US allegations of technology theft

Beleaguered Chinese telecom giant Huawei on Tuesday denied accusations reported in the Wall Street Journal that it stole technology from a Portuguese inventor, accusing him of “taking advantage of the current geopolitical situation.”

The US Department of Justice is looking into the claim, potentially adding to existing criminal cases against Huawei, the WSJ reported last week.

Huawei — considered the world leader in superfast 5G equipment and the world’s number two smartphone producer — was in May swept into a deepening trade war between Beijing and Washington, which has seen punitive tariffs slapped on hundreds of billions of dollars of two-way trade.