In a rare sit down with international media, Ren Zhengfei addressed concerns raised by the US, which has warned that the company's equipment could allow the Chinese government to have a backdoor into a nation's telecommunications network.
Ren said he would “definitely” refuse any request from the Chinese government to access the company's user data. He said his longtime affiliation with China's ruling party would not affect his ability to fight against that same government if it requested user data.
"When it comes to cybersecurity and privacy protection we are committed to be sided with our customers. We will never harm any nation or any individual," Ren told the journalists assembled at Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen.
"Huawei and me personally have never received any request from any government to provide improper information," Ren added. "The values of a business entity is customer first, is customer centricity.”