Huawei and Canada are victims of US-China technology stand-off, founder of telecoms giant says
- Ren Zhengfei says US case against his daughter Meng Wanzhou should not damage his company’s relationship with Canada
Huawei and Ottawa are victims of a hi-tech stand-off between Washington and Beijing but the tensions won’t affect the company’s investment in Canada, according to the Chinese telecom giant’s founder.
Ren Zhengfei’s assessment comes as China and Canada weather what some have called the worst crisis in relations between the two countries, triggered by the arrest in Vancouver in December of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who is also Ren’s daughter.
The arrest was made at the request of the United States, which seeks to extradite Meng over possible violations of sanctions against Iran.
“Meng Wanzhou has committed no crime. She didn’t violate any Canadian rules, and I think both Canada and Huawei are victims because this case hurts people in both countries, and bilateral relations also suffered setbacks,” Ren told CTV, a Canadian television network, in an interview aired on Thursday.
“We will not reduce our investment in Canada because of that.
“Meng Wanzhou is an individual case, and I don’t think it should influence in any way the relationship Canada has with Huawei.”