Huawei says blacklisting it will only hurt industry

Bloomberg

Huawei Technologies’s rotating chairman, speaking publicly for the first time since the shock arrest of its chief financial officer, warned that blacklisting the Chinese company without proof will only hurt the industry and snarl the advent of future wireless technologies worldwide.
The company took swipes at the US and its allies on Tuesday during its first press event since CFO Meng Wanzhou was detained in Canada on allegations she defrauded banks to violate Iranian sanctions. The daughter of billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei, she now faces extradition in a case that’s sparked a diplomatic row, chilled travel to China and exacerbated fears Beijing could employ its networks for espionage, something Huawei’s always denied. China’s largest technology company by sales has rapidly become a lightning rod for America’s fears about the Asian country, as tensions between the world’s two richest nations escalate. In Europe, carriers and major customers from Orange SA to BT Group Plc and Deutsche Telekom AG have voiced their concerns about Huawei’s gear, on top of existing bans in Australia, New Zealand and the US.
That unprecedented backlash comes at a critical juncture for a company with ambitions of leading the rollout of fifth generation wireless, a technology expected to power-up a plethora of devices from smartphones to cars.
While Huawei wouldn’t address Meng’s case directly, the company reiterated that it abides by international law and is confident the judiciary will come to a fair conclusion. It challenged its accusers to produce actual evidence of their claims about security or to share them with Huawei’s customers.
“Some countries in rare cases take an abnormal approach. They take the 5G technology concerns, a technical issue for the industry, and turn it into groundless speculation targeting a specific company,” Ken Hu, one of several rotating chairmen, told reporters at its manufacturing base in Dongguan. “Despite the efforts to create fear about Huawei and to use politics to interfere with industry growth, we’re proud to say that our customers continue to trust us.”
Meng’s arrest was regarded back home as an attack on one of China’s foremost corporate champions. While Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. dominate headlines thanks to flashy growth and high-profile billionaire founders, Ren’s company is by far China’s most global technology company, with operations spanning Africa, Europe and Asia. Its ambitions include artificial intelligence, chipmaking and 5G wireless.