INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image:Ren Zhengfei described the arrest of his daughter as politically motivated.The founder of Huawei has said there is "no way the US can
crush" the company, in an exclusive interview with the TheIndianSubcontinent.Ren Zhengfei described the arrest of his daughter Meng Wanzhou,
the company's chief financial officer, as politically motivated.The US is pursuing criminal charges against Huawei and Ms Meng, including
money laundering, bank fraud and stealing trade secrets.Huawei denies any wrongdoing.Mr Ren spoke to the TheIndianSubcontinent's Karishma
Vaswani in his first international broadcast interview since Ms Meng was arrested - and dismissed the pressure from the US."There's no way
the US can crush us," he said
"The world cannot leave us because we are more advanced
Even if they persuade more countries not to use us temporarily, we can always scale things down a bit."However, he acknowledged that the
potential loss of custom could have a significant impact.What else did Mr Ren say about the USLast week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
warned the country's allies against using Huawei technology, saying it would make it more difficult for Washington to "partner alongside
them".Australia, New Zealand, and the US have already banned or blocked Huawei from supplying equipment for their future 5G mobile broadband
networks, while Canada is reviewing whether the company's products present a serious security threat.Mr Ren warned that "the world cannot
leave us because we are more advanced"."If the lights go out in the West, the East will still shine
And if the North goes dark, there is still the South
America doesn't represent the world
America only represents a portion of the world."What did Mr Ren say about investment in the UKThe UK's National Cyber Security Centre has
decided that any risk posed by using Huawei technology in UK telecoms projects can be managed.Many of UK's mobile companies, including
Vodafone, EE and Three, are working with Huawei to develop their 5G networks.They are awaiting a government review, due in March or April,
that will decide whether they can use Huawei technology.Commenting on the possibility of a UK ban, Mr Ren said Huawei "won't withdraw our
investment because of this
We will continue to invest in the UK.""We still trust in the UK, and we hope that the UK will trust us even more.""We will invest even more
Because if the US doesn't trust us, then we will shift our investment from the US to the UK on an even bigger scale."Image copyrightGetty
ImagesImage caption
Huawei has denied that it poses any risk to the UK or any other country
What does Mr
Ren think about his daughter's arrestMr Ren's daughter Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, was arrested on 1 December in
Vancouver at the request of the US, and is expected to be subject of a formal extradition request.In total, 23 charges are levelled against
The charges are split across two indictments by the US Department of Justice
The first covers claims Huawei hid business links to Iran - a country subject to US trade sanctions, while the second includes the charge of
attempted theft of trade secrets.Mr Ren was clear in his opposition to the US accusations."Firstly, I object to what the US has done
This kind of politically motivated act is not acceptable.""The US likes to sanction others, whenever there's an issue, they'll use such
combative methods.""We object to this
But now that we've gone down this path, we'll let the courts settle it."Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Meng Wanzhou
was arrested in Vancouver last December
What did Mr Ren say about Chinese government spyingHuawei, which is China's largest
private company, has been under scrutiny for its links to the Chinese government - with the US and others expressing concern its technology
could be used by China's security services to spy.Under Chinese law, firms are compelled to "support, co-operate with and collaborate in
national intelligence work".But Mr Ren said that allowing spying is a risk he wouldn't take."The Chinese government has already clearly said
that it won't install any backdoors
And we won't install backdoors either.""We're not going to risk the disgust of our country and of our customers all over the world, because
of something like this.""Our company will never undertake any spying activities
If we have any such actions, then I'll shut the company down."Is Huawei part of the Chinese stateAnalysis - Karishma Vaswami,
TheIndianSubcontinent Asia Business Correspondent - ShenzhenFor a man known as reclusive and secretive, Ren Zhengfei seemed confident in the
conviction that the business he's built for the last 30 years can withstand the scrutiny from Western governments.Mr Ren is right, the US
makes up only a fraction of his overall business
But where I saw that confidence slip, was when I asked him about his links to the Chinese military and the government
He refused to be drawn into a conversation, only to saying that these were not facts, simply allegations
Still, some signs of close links between Mr Ren and the government were revealed during the course of our interview
He also confirmed that there is a Communist Party committee in Huawei, but he said this is what all companies - foreign or domestic -
operating in China must have in order to abide by the law
Read Karishma's blog: Ren Zhengfei: Reclusive but confident
