IN a move unprecedented in its scope, the US Justice Department this week filed more than a dozen criminal charges against Chinese tech giant Huawei and its chief financial officer (CFO), rattling financial markets and deepening suspicions about the business of Chinese firms in other countries.

The charges filed by the US allege three violations. First, Huawei itself is charged with stealing technology from a US-based lab of telecommunications company T-Mobile. Second, two affiliate companies of Huawei are accused of evading US and UN sanctions against Iran.