U.S. criminal probe into theft of trade secrets by Huawei reportedly in 'advanced' stages

WASHINGTON - U.S. authorities are in the "advanced" stages of a criminal probe that could result in an indictment of Chinese technology giant Huawei, a report said Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, said the Justice Department is looking into allegations of theft involving trade secrets from Huawei's U.S. business partners, including a T-Mobile robotic device used to test smartphones. The Justice Department declined to comment on the report and Huawei did not respond to a request for comment. The move would further escalate tensions between the U.S. and China after the arrest last year in Canada of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is the daughter of the company's founder and remains under house arrest, awaiting proceedings. The Meng case has inflamed U.S.-China and Canada-China relations.