Huawei opens defence in US criminal trial, touting its record of innovation

Huawei began presenting its defense on Wednesday in a high-stakes US criminal trial, asserting that as a leading global technology company, it had no interest in stealing trade secrets. The Shenzhen-based firm has pleaded not guilty to 14 criminal charges, including racketeering conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and trade secret theft spanning over two decades.

If found guilty, the four-decade-old company could face significant financial and regulatory penalties. The government, who concluded its case on Wednesday morning, alleges Huawei acted as a criminal enterprise, stealing intellectual property, including data related to US telecoms carrier T-Mobile's "Tappy" testing robot, and violating sanctions against Iran to fund its global expansion.

Prosecutors presented 61 witnesses over seven weeks. In contrast, Huawei's defense focused on its history of innovation, arguing that its growth and success stem from its own research and development efforts. The first witness for the defense, Yang Chaobin, a senior executive and board member, detailed several technological advancements Huawei made, including "SingleRAN," a technology that allows network operators to run multiple radio access technologies on a single hardware platform.

However, the trial faces challenges as District Judge Ann Donnelly has allowed evidence from Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's CFO, who was detained in 2018. This evidence includes her 2021 admission of providing misleading information to an HSBC executive about Huawei's relationship with Skycom, an affiliated company in Iran. Despite these challenges, Huawei's defense team aims to emphasize the company's global reach, employing around 210,000 people worldwide and dedicating billions of dollars and 110,000 employees to research and development.