Huawei CEO: Daughter should be ‘proud’ to be caught up in US, China trade war

The CEO of Chinese technology company Huawei said his daughter should be “proud” to be caught up in the U.S.-China trade war, CNN Business reported Sunday.

Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei told CNN Business Tuesday that he praises his daughter Meng Wanzhou for her “suffering” after she has been detained in Canada since last year.

“She should be proud to have been caught in this situation,” he said. “In the fight between the two nations, she became a bargaining chip.” 

Meng, who serves as the chief financial officer for Huawei, was detained in Canada with a possibility of being extradited to the U.S. due to charges against her and the company of bank fraud, trade secrets theft and avoiding U.S. sanctions on Iran. Both Meng and Huawei deny the charges.

The chief financial officer plans to officially challenge the U.S. efforts for extradition in January, CNN Business reported.

Ren told CNN Business that the experience has brought him closer to his daughter, but Meng won’t be given “greater responsibilities” in the company upon her return to China because she lacks a background in technology.

“The experience of hardship and suffering is good for Meng and her growth,” he said. “Under the grand backdrop of the … trade war, she is like a small ant being caught between the collision of two giant powers.”

Tensions between China and Canada have intensified after Meng’s detention in December last year, and China has arrested two Canadian citizens and charged them with espionage. 

The U.S. placed Huawei on a trade blacklist in May preventing U.S. companies from conducting business with the technology company, saying it posed a national security risk. Some companies were given limited licenses earlier this month to continue business with Huawei.