A spokesman at China's industry and information technology ministry said Tuesday that the U.S. government indictment against Huawei is "unfair" and "immoral," Reuters reported.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed criminal charges Monday against Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of China tech giant Huawei and the daughter of its founder and president Ren Zhengfei. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker confirmed during a press conference that the Justice Department is seeking the extradition of Meng Wanzhou from Canada.
The Justice Department also announced charges Monday against Huawei for allegedly stealing trade secrets from T-Mobile. The charges stem from a civil trade secrets lawsuit filed by T-Mobile in 2014 over a robot called "Tappy," which was used in testing smartphones.
Meng's lawyer, Reid Weingarten, said his client should not be used as a "pawn or a hostage" in the the U.S.-China relationship. She did not plot to break any U.S. laws, or violate American sanctions on Iran, he said in a statement to CNBC.
China's foreign ministry, for its part, expressed its concerns about the charges and then characterized the actions as part of a U.S. plot to suppress the success of Chinese firms.
Alex Capri, visiting senior fellow at NUS Business School, told CNBC he found Beijing's response notable.