Citing people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that U.S. prosecutor Thea Kendler will be nominated for a Commerce Department post vital to controlling exports to China. Notably, Kendler is the prosecutor representing the U.S. government in the criminal proceedings against Chinese company Huawei and its Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou.

Kendler will work under Alan Estevez, a former Pentagon official, who was nominated on July 13 to be the U.S. Commerce Department's undersecretary for industry and security, a position that is crucial in the U.S.-China technology battle.

The department had restricted sales to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd since 2019 when the company and dozens of its non-U.S. affiliates were added to the U.S. trade blacklist.

Two years ago, the Commerce Department cited the criminal case filed against Huawei in the U.S. District Court in New York, alleging violations of U.S. law, including the export of goods, technology, and banking services to Iran, subject to U.S. sanctions.

Kendler, a trial attorney in the Justice Department National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, is among the lawyers in charge of prosecuting the Huawei case.

The indictment led to the 2018 arrest in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, Chief Financial Officer of Huawei and daughter of the company's founder. Meng faces bank fraud charges for allegedly misleading HSBC Holdings Plc about Huawei's business in Iran. She claims that she is innocent and has been fighting extradition ever since. Huawei has pleaded not guilty to the indictment, which has been updated to include charges for theft of trade secrets.

Chinese experts on Sino-U.S. issues said that the department responsible for industrial and security affairs in the U.S. Department of Commerce is a very significant sector, mainly accountable for export control, involving high-tech and sensitive products. Biden attaches great attention to the relevant positions and consistently hopes to find someone who can represent his policy intentions.

The U.S. government's choice of candidates for the position in question reflects the U.S. government's future policy toward China or will become increasingly challenging, including the intention that restrictions on Huawei will not ease. Kendall may be expected to become a powerful helper for Biden to achieve his strategic intentions on China's economy and trade.

Source: RUETERS- Biden nominates Huawei prosecutor for key China export post