The twin criminal indictments against Huawei unveiled by US authorities on Monday are packed with emails and financial transactions allegedly showing how the Chinese technology giant carried out criminal conspiracies. But the finer points of the 23 charges are less important than the overall shot they deliver across China's bows. The US considers Huawei to be an arm of the Chinese state – and their devices to be potential spying equipment for Beijing. Charges that Huawei illegally violated US sanctions on Iran hold the most symbolic significance. They allowed Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, to stress the company's activities had been "detrimental to the security of the United States".

Embattled Chinese telecom giant Huawei has some new problems. The US Department of Justice on Monday unsealed a 13-count indictment against Huawei and its CFO, Meng Wanzhou, alleging the company misled banking partners about violations of US sanctions against Iran. The charges include bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice. Meng, who is also the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada last month and is awaiting extradition to the US. In a separate case, the DOJ indicted Huawei for stealing intellectual property related to a cell-phone-testing robot from T-Mobile in 2012.