Huawei accuses U.S. government of coercing staff

Huawei on Tuesday (September 3) accused the U.S. government of instructing law enforcement to quote "coerce" and "entice" its employees in a bid to turn them against the company.

The world's number two smartphone maker said, Washington was using its judicial and administrative powers to disrupt its business amid a trade war with China.

That came from an undated document seen by Reuters, and from a Tuesday news release by the company.

In it, Huawei said some of its staff and Huawei partners, all mid- to high-level executives, were subjected to unlawful searches, detention and arrest.

Others were visited by FBI agents at their homes and pressured to collect information from the company.

Huawei did not provide any evidence of its accusations, and Reuters could not independently confirm the information provided by Huawei.

The Justice Department said the FBI would not have a separate comment.

In Tuesday's news release, Huawei also described a spate of other allegations against the U.S. government including cyber attacks, mobilizing other companies to level baseless accusations against Huawei, and filing criminal charges based on claims of technology theft.

However, the document did provide specific details about any of the claims.