Huawei founder and CEO, Ren Zhengfei has weighed into recent scrutiny of its equipment and ties to China’s government, by the United State government declaring the vendor will not suffer the same setbacks as domestic rival ZTE.
It should be noted that Huawei is leading equipment vendor to many telecommunication operators in Nigeria and has been involved in providing equipment for some rural telephony projects undertaken by the Nigerian government.
Ren unveiled company’s strategy to be more open and transparent. Indeed, the company’s PR team hinted he may meet with the press more in the future, after not giving interviews for years.
According to media reports, the Huawei founder said a trade war with the US hasn’t significantly impacted its business, with revenue growth this year forecast at close to 20 per cent.
“We might face difficulties and challenges. But what happened to ZTE I believe will not happen to Huawei.”
Asked about the relationship between Huawei and the Communist Party of China (CPC), he said: “I love my country and I support the CPC, but I would never do anything to harm another country or another individual.”
Huawei is facing growing scrutiny of the security of its equipment, with several countries blocking it from forthcoming 5G network construction projects. In December 2018, rotating chairman Ken Hu called for dialogue with governments implementing such bans, asking them to present their evidence so the vendor could respond appropriately.
Ren emphasised the company has never received a request from China’s government to turn over a customer’s data and is not required to maintain a backdoor in its equipment.
“We would definitely say no to any such request,” he stated, explaining the government would need to file a case with Huawei to seek access, rather than it petitioning the government to block such a request.
His overall message was that suspicion should not be used to replace fact, arguing its focus on customers means its networks will remain secure.
With only a handful of US senators seeing Huawei as a threat, Ren said the company will continue to communicate to try to make progress. However, he pointed out: “We don’t know much about each other, and don’t have channels to communicate with the US government.”
But, he said if it isn’t allowed to sell in certain markets, it will shift focus to countries willing to deploy its gear and use them as “examples to prove we are trustworthy”.
