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There's no way the US can crush us, says HUAWEI founder
- HUAWEI founder Ren Zhengfei has reportedly declared there’s “no way” the U.S. can crush it.
- Ren told the BBC HUAWEI could scale back operations “a bit” if more countries banned the firm.
- The bigwig also claimed that the arrest of his daughter and CFO Meng Wanzhou was politically motivated.
Huawei has endured a torrid time in the U.S., ranging from the arrest of its CFO to a seemingly imminent decision to ban Chinese telecom equipment. But HUAWEI founder Ren Zhengfei reportedly believes the U.S. can’t stop the company’s onward march.
“There’s no way the U.S. can crush us,” Ren told the BBC in an interview. “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.”
The founder’s comments come as the U.S. has reportedly been pressuring its allies to drop HUAWEI network equipment.
“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,” Ren added.
On CFO’s arrest and spying concerns
Moving across the pond, the HUAWEI founder told the outlet it would continue to invest in the U.K. in the event of a ban there. The company is waiting for a government review, due in the next few months, that will decide whether or not U.K. networks can use HUAWEI equipment. But the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre has reportedly found that any potential threat posed by HUAWEI equipment can be managed.
The HUAWEI founder also lashed out at the arrest of his daughter and HUAWEI CFO Meng Wanzhou, telling the BBC it was a politically motivated act. Meng has been detained on charges alleging HUAWEI circumvented U.S. sanctions against Iran, as well as charges related to the theft of trade secrets.
Ren also hit back against spying allegations, saying the Chinese government previously said it wouldn’t install backdoors, adding it wouldn’t install them 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,” the founder said, adding that he would shut the company down if it were engaged in spying.
The HUAWEI chief confirmed that there was a Communist Party committee in the company, but said it was required by law for all companies operating in China. For what it’s worth, it’s claimed that the likes of JD.com, Tencent, Baidu and Alibaba all have party committees too.
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