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While the news is dominated by the corona virus coverage, the US is investigating whether ZTE paid bribes to foreign officials to gain advantage in ZTE’s operations. ZTE is one of the largest Chinese telecommunications companies and are believed to be closely related to the Chinese Communist Party.

The bribes include allegations of bribery by ZTE in over 12 countries, including but not limited to Algeria, Liberia, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

These new legal issues come right after ZTE plead guilty 3 years ago for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea. In 2017, ZTE plead guilty to violating U.S. sanctions, and resulted in ZTE paying a civil and criminal penalty and forfeiture of assets – a settlement costing ZTE over $1.19 billion dollars. ZTE’s probation ended

ZTE’s US headquarters are based in Richardson Texas with the company’s headquarters located in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.