Chinese tech giant Huawei’s chief executive has been charged with criminal charges for stealing trade secrets, misleading banks about its business and violating U.S. sanctions.

Huawei entirely denied committing any violation mentioned in the indictment. These charges were announced just before a critical two-day round of trade talks between China and the United States. Many trade analysts believe that these allegations could potentially dim the prospects for a breakthrough.

The tech giant has been accused of using paramount efforts to steal trade secrets from American businesses which include an attempt to remove a piece of a robot from T-mobile lab. The charged chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada last month, and the U.S. government is trying to deport her

Meng’s lawyer in Canada didn’t respond immediately to messages that seek comment. As of now, Meng is out on bail in Vancouver, and her case is said to be due back in court on Tuesday

Huawei is considered to be the world’s biggest supplier of network gear that is being used by phone and internet companies. The company has always been seen as a front for spying by the Chinese security services.

After the charges has been filed the company released a public statement saying “The company denies that it or its subsidiary or affiliate have committed any of the asserted violations of U.S. law set forth in each of the indictments,” it also added that Huawei is “not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng, and believes the U.S. courts will ultimately reach the same conclusion.”

On the other hand, China detained two Canadians soon after Meng’s arrest in an obvious attempt to pressure Canada for the release of Ms. Meng.

The Prosecutors who are handling Ms. Meng’s case say that Huawei was doing business in Iran through a Hong-Kong based company called Skycom and Meng has misled U.S. banks into believing that these two companies were separate.

Officials also claim that from the beginning of 2012, Huawei had created a plan to steal all information regarding T-Mobile’s robot, named “Tappy,” and the Huawei engineers clicked pictures of the robot, measured it and even tried to steal a part of it from T-Mobile’s laboratory in Washington state. When asked about the same to T-Mobile they declined to comment on the matter.

At a news conference with Attorney General, Matt Whitaker along with his cabinet officials commented: “As I told high-level Chinese law enforcement officials in August, we need more law enforcement cooperation with China, China should be concerned about criminal activities by Chinese companies, and China should take action.”

This case has set off diplomatic ruffle among the United States, China, and Canada. President Donald Trump commented that he would get involved in the Huawei case if it can help create a trade agreement with China. Eswar Prasad, an economics professor, and China expert at Cornell University along with other economists are worried that the criminal charges announcement made on Monday could potentially hamper the prospects of a deal.

The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will be starting tax filing season on the next Monday. There is a high chance of the season to become chaotic as the IRS is hard-pressed on workforce by the on-going shutdown.

This could be the worst chapter of the current shutdown which has been dragging for 34 days. As per analysts, one in every ten taxpayers could face problems with their returns due to the IRS funding shortfall. Analysts also added that the situation might worsen if the shutdown drags for a more extended period.

The annual tax filing season for Americans to file their 2018 returns is starting from January 28 to April 15. And due to the partial shutdown, the IRS has designated more than 46,000 employees, or nearly 60 percent of its workforce, to work without pay on jobs such as staffing taxpayer help lines and processing tax returns and facilitating refunds.

Representative Richard Neal, Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax policy, said, “People have figured out how explosive it could be, regarding not being able to pay down Christmas debt.”

Neal also added, “But when you call back 40,000 people arbitrarily, without any guarantee of remuneration, and ask them to pay for gas and things of that sort, their lives aren’t getting any easier because of it.”

Lawmakers on Neal’s committee hoped to learn more about the whole tax filing situation by a hearing with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin this week. But, the hearing has to be canceled as Mnuchin, a top adviser to President Donald Trump, declined to attend. Neal said he would be proposing more dates as per the convenience of Mnuchin.

“The fact that they’ve called people back is an indication of a chaotic situation,” Representative Bill Pascrell, a committee Democrat, said of the IRS. “It’s not just getting returns back to people in time, but getting the taxes reviewed in time. That’s very, very important.”

Representative Kevin Brady, the panel’s top Republican, said lawmakers should be aware of the impact of the shutdown on the IRS from the administration. Brady told reporters, “This is a bipartisan area of interest, to make sure this tax-filing season goes well.”

In the meantime, IRS has issued a statement stating it continues to prepare for the next week’s start of the tax filing season and it has started calling back its employees to be able to work efficiently.

As per analysts, the taxpayers filing electronically or with the help of professionals should not face any difficulties, but the lower-income filers are those who will be mainly impacted as they depend on the IRS for guidance to file tax.

There could also be problems as it will have to guide the taxpayers about the new tax policy landscape created by Trump’s sweeping 2017 tax overhaul.

Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center think tank said, “The longer you make people work without paying them, the more problems you’re going to have.”

The National Treasury Employees Union, a union that represents IRS employees and has sued in court to prevent the government from forcing them back to work without pay, said the number of workers working without pay is increasing and they are facing financial hardships to pay the mounting bills.

Representative Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican, said he expects the shutdown to end soon and he wants good coordination between the Congress and Trump to do that. Buchanan said, “If it doesn’t, we’re going to have to find a way to work with people financially because there are a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck.”

The shutdown has been affecting not only the lives of federal workers but also the American economy. The Trump administration and the Congress should soon reach a consensus so that the health of the economy is not damaged for a longer term.

Germany is considering various ways to block Huawei’s 5G mobile network as per reports. If the government does block it, it will follow other countries like Australia and the United States which has already restricted Huawei from accessing its next-gen mobile networks. Both countries have cited national security as the reason behind banning it. The US officials said that the network equipment provided by the company might have ‘backdoors’ which can be used to access confidential information and that China controls them. Huawei has refuted such concerns as baseless allegations.

The German administration has not yet decided as to what steps to take, but they are considering many options to make the security more robust and find ways to remove Huawei. They are considering enforcing stricter regulations which prevent Huawei products used in 5G. Some government sources also said that Germany might also consider making some changes in the telecommunication laws as a last resort to block Huawei’s participation. Changes in law and stricter standards will ensure Germany is in line with other countries like the US and Australia.

The countries that are taking action

• The US and its Allie Australia have banned Huawei from involvement in their 5G networks.
• New Zealand has already stopped Huawei from supplying 5G equipment since November.
• Canada is doing a review of the products shipped by Huawei and will soon come up with a decision.
• British Telecom who is the leading network provider in the United Kingdom has ordered the removal of Huawei equipment from its 5G network.
• Germany is considering banning supplies of the firms 5G networks.
• The European Union has also expressed concern over Chinese manufacturers.

What does the company say?

Even as there are fears that Huawei is being used by China to spy on other countries and to gather confidential information, the company says it is an independent company who has nothing to do with the Chinese government apart from paying taxes as it is based in China. However, there are doubts regarding this claim as the founder of Huawei was a former army employee and is a member of the communist party. Moreover, there are also concerns on the freedom that Beijing provides to businesses and could ask the Chinese firm to make modifications to the devices they export to other countries and do cyberespionage.

In a bid to appease the German government Huawei appreciated the urge to regulate standards and has supported them by opening a lab in Bonn to help with the regulation.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro started his second term in office by delivering a state-of-the-nation speech on Monday and delivered a few fresh ideas to help the increasingly isolated country escape hyperinflationary collapse or a further downward spiral in 2019.

His election to the second term was full of criticisms that he had used unfair practices in 2018 elections and many countries around the world disavowed the regime.

He proposed a gamut of economic reforms including a 300 percent minimum wage hike, dialogue with business leaders, and increased use of an inexistent state-backed cryptocurrency.

As per economists and analysts, the measures declared by Maduro will not have much impact on the economy which is already in bad shape.

Asdrubal Oliveros, director of Caracas-based consultancy Ecoanalitica, said that the measures were déjà vu, it would have no ability to drag the Venezuelan economy out of the deep crisis it is experiencing.

The economists of Venezuela, however, had low expectations from Maduro’s speech. Maduro has been not very prompt in bringing economic reforms in Venezuela, and his recent plan of hiking wage by increasing the money supply will only create inflationary pressure. The measure will have more negative impacts than positive.

The new minimum wage of 18,000 bolivars per month – around $ 6.70, is enough to sustain a small family but with rising inflation, the purchasing power will be negligible or less than what it was before. It should be reported here that Venezuela has experienced very high inflation in recent times.

On Monday, Maduro told the all-powerful pro-government Constituent Assembly legislature that his second term would bring about many changes and create a boom in the Venezuelan market. He also said that others misinterpreted him as the enemy of the private sector. He also welcomed private businesses and enterprises to work in Venezuela, and he assured of every possible support for the next six years.

Maduro said in a confirming voice that there should not be any doubt that Venezuela is triumphing and it would become great, prosperous, and socialist. Agreeing to his point, the members chanted, “That’s how one governs.”

Maduro got elected to the post in 2013. People could easily relate to him as he belonged to lower middle class in his earlier days being a bus driver. But, he became infamous on the allegations of forcefully taking the power of the country in 2018 elections. He faced international ire by cuts in foreign financing and few allies abroad.

Critics in the United States and Latin America, as well as political opponents at home, are stating Maduro as a dictator. They blamed Maduro for his incapacity to bring about changes on the economic front and caused political failure.

But he has always alleged that he was a victim of U.S.-led “economic war” aimed at ousting him from power.

It should be reported here that during his previous term the Venezuelan economy was halved its size due to widespread recessions and a shortage of food and medicine have forced around 3 million citizens to leave the country.

In August 2018, the government tried to bring many reforms like devaluing the bolivar currency and lifting the minimum wage and taxes. But, these steps are seen as very little owing to the degree of crisis it is going through.

Later in the last week, the country’s opposition-led Congress, Juan Guido, said in a statement that he would replace Maduro from power with the support of the military. Several leaders in Venezuela requested Maduro to arrest Juan and prosecute him for treason. The intelligence agencies detained him for a brief period.

Even with facing allegations of being a dictator, he termed Brazil’s new right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, as the Hitler of the modern era. And he also declared that he would never bend inform of someone compromising the prosperity of Venezuela.