ZTE, China’s second-largest maker of telecoms equipment, has been hit by a record fine from the US government. The company has pled guilty to charges of violating US sanctions against both Iran and North Korea, and will pay up to $1.2 billion — the largest criminal fine in a US sanctions case to date.

According to the United States Department of Commerce, from 2010 to 2016 ZTE “conspired to evade” America’s embargo against Iran. The Chinese firm sold US-made hardware and software to the country to supply its telecommunications infrastructure. ZTE is also charged with making 283 shipments of equipment (including servers and routers) to North Korea, which is also under US trade embargoes. The US government says ZTE officials repeatedly…

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