Huawei CEO breaks silence on daughter’s arrest with praise for Trump
16 January, 2019
Ren Zhengfei, the man in charge of Chinese telecommunication gear-maker Huawei, made a rare appearance before foreign journalists on Tuesday, as the fallout from the arrest in Canada of his daughter – the firm’s CFO – continues.
Ren pushed back on accusations levied by some foreign governments, led by the US, that Huawei poses a national security threat due in part to his close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.
“I love my country, I support the Communist Party. But I will not do anything to harm the world,” Ren said through an interpreter during the meeting with reporters held at Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, according to Bloomberg. “I don’t see a close connection between my personal political beliefs and the businesses of Huawei.”
He stressed that he would “definitely” refuse a request from the government to hand over the company’s user data.
Regarding the case of his daughter, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, the 74-year-old was reluctant to get into details but said that he “trusts” the openness of the US and Canadian judicial systems and will wait for court judgments, per CNBC.
Ren reserved praise for US President Donald Trump, who he said is a great president.
“For President Trump as a person, I still believe he is a great president,” he said. “In the sense that he was bold to slash taxes. And I think that’s conducive for the development of industries in the United States.”
Amid the ongoing US-led campaign to sound the alarm among allies regarding the risks of using Huawei equipment, Ren acknowledged that the company could face speed bumps this year.
“In 2019 we might face challenges and difficulties in international markets. That is why I said … our growth next year would be less than 20 percent,” he said.