As the US-China trade war is far from dying down, a fresh media report alleges Chinese tech giant Huawei is being probed by US prosecutors over new instances of alleged intellectual property theft.

The growing scope of the investigation into the company’s activities was reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Huawei stands accused of stealing intellectual property from individuals and other companies, as well as recruiting employees from its rivals.

US prosecutors are said to be investigating instances of alleged Huawei activities, not covered by the indictments against the company, issued earlier this year. Still, it remains unclear so far if any new charges will be brought against the corporation, the report pointed out.

Both Huawei and the US Justice Department refused to give the WSJ any comment on the matter.

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The US and China have been locked in a trade war for a year and a half already, and Huawei has become one of the prime targets for Washington’s actions. The company is currently battling several lawsuits on copyright infringement and technology theft in the US, dismissing all allegations as “politically motivated.”

The telecommunications giant was added to a US trade blacklist back in May over alleged spying and intellectual property theft. The same month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing the US to ban telecom equipment made by “foreign adversaries” – a move which was seen as targeting Huawei as well.

Beijing, in turn, established its own list of “unreliable” entities, threatening that foreign companies, organizations and individuals may be put on it. Huawei, for its part, is taking steps to reduce its reliance on American technology – such as Google’s Android OS.

While the company said it will continue using the OS as long as the US government allows it, a new operating system of its own, dubbed HarmonyOS, has already been unveiled. The firm has also promised to unveil its own mapping service which might become a major competitor to Google Maps.

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