Huawei racketeering trial turns to alleged trade secret theft from Japan’s Fujitsu

A key witness is expected to testify on Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies’ alleged theft of trade secrets from Japanese rival Fujitsu on Thursday as the company’s landmark criminal trial in Brooklyn, New York, enters its second day of testimony.It comes after a US government lawyer told federal jurors on the opening day that Huawei engaged in criminal activities to achieve “growth at any cost”, while a lawyer for the company said that the employee who photographed Fujitsu networking equipment after hours at a 2004 trade show was subsequently punished for the “foolish act”.Brian Heberlig, of US law firm Steptoe, also said on Wednesday in his opening statement that the 2021 admission of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou to violating US sanctions on Iran should not be viewed as a “confession” as Meng did not admit to deliberately deceiving any government officials or banks, or that anyone else at Huawei acted with criminal intent.The admission was part of a “negotiated statement of fact” reached with the US government, the defence lawyer said.The remarks were a response to the opening statement by the federal prosecution, which highlighted Meng’s admission made “under oath” as key evidence that Huawei became one of the world’s leading telecoms companies through “theft, lies [and] cover-ups”.Justice Department lawyer Taylor Stout told jurors that a “culture of crime” had existed at Huawei for over 20 years, stemming from the top leadership including founder Ren Zhengfei and his daughter Meng.A courtroom sketch shows US District Judge Ann Donnelly presiding over the Huawei Technologies' criminal trial in Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters