>China's Huawei Technologies will defend itself by producing its own high-tech components should the U.S. cut off the world's biggest telecom equipment maker from access to American technology, founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei said on Friday in a rare interview with Japanese media.
>If Washington escalates its crackdown against the company in such a way, "we will produce alternative products on our own. That is not in the U.S.' interest," Ren told reporters at the company's offices in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
>Ren said he was "very surprised," by the arrest in Canada of his daughter, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, on suspicions of dealing with Iran. He refrained from commenting further citing that the investigation was ongoing.
>He said for the first time that his daughter would not succeed him as the company's leader. Meng, who was arrested last month in Canada on allegations related to U.S. sanctions against Iran, has been viewed as a likely future chief of the Chinese tech group.
>"My successor is definitely not going to be Meng Wanzhou," Ren said. "Meng Wanzhou has talent in management and communication, while my successor should come from a technical background, should have in-depth insights of the market, should be equipped with strategic thinking and should have knowledge of sociology and philosophy."
>"My successor will not be a single person but a group of people," he added.
>When asked if Huawei would be able to oppose a request from the Chinese government or the Chinese Communist Party to hand over sensitive information about its clients, Ren said that he would put clients' interest first.
>"Over the past 30 years, we have never had an issue with safety," he said. "If we were asked to submit data in a way that would hurt our clients, we would refuse," Ren stressed.
