The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Huawei, one of China's flagship telecommunications companies, with multiple federal crimes in an indictment unsealed on Thursday, and cited a "North Korea fraudulent scheme" as one example of the company's lawbreaking behavior.

The charges, racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to steal trade secrets, come at an already tense moment in the U.S.-China relationship: the two countries have clashed over trade policy, human rights, censorship -- and the right approach to dealing with the DPRK and its nuclear weapons program.