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BEIJING – Ren Zhengfei, founder of Chinese technology giant Huawei, has accused the United States of having political motives to bring criminal charges against the company and his daughter, a leading Huawei.
The comments, made in a BBC interview on Monday, mark a rhetorical escalation. Mr. Ren and the firm had previously refused to do much about the case, citing respect for the judicial process. But he seems to sharpen his language as an audience approaches to find out if his daughter should be sent to the United States to be tried.
"I'm opposed to what the United States has done," Ren told the BBC. "This kind of politically motivated act is not acceptable."
At the end of last month, the Justice Ministry unveiled the charges against Huawei and his financial director, Meng Wanzhou, describing the efforts of the Chinese company for years to steal trade secrets Americans, obstruct a criminal investigation and escape the economic sanctions imposed on Iran.
Ms. Meng, who is the eldest daughter of Mr. Ren, was arrested in December by Canadian authorities acting at the request of the United States. She remains in Canada pending a decision by her judicial authorities to find out if she will be extradited to the United States to face charges.
The criminal case against Huawei and Ms. Meng coincides with a campaign by US officials to pressure Western governments not to use Huawei's hardware on their mobile networks. Washington has long argued that the company's network tools could be used to help Beijing spy on Americans, accusations that Huawei has always denied.
Relations between China and the United States are already tense as efforts to resolve their trade war that has lasted for months go forward.
Mr. Ren, 74, has generally preferred to avoid the limelight since he has made Huawei the world's leading provider of equipment for modern telecommunications.
In an interview with a group of international media journalists last month, Mr. Ren said, "I am convinced that the legal systems of Canada and the United States are open, fair and equitable and that they will succeed. to a just conclusion. We will give our judgment once all the evidence has been made public. "
Mr. Ren's latest comments seem to be aimed at a Canadian audience. A Canadian judge is expected in the coming weeks to hear arguments on the opportunity to extradite Ms. Meng.
The Canadian authorities' decision will probably be decisive in determining whether his arrest was motivated by political considerations. Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, warned the United States not to use the extradition process for political purposes. And last month, John McCallum, Canada's ambassador to China at the time, said that Ms. Meng had a good chance of avoiding extradition because of what President Trump said he was ready to do. intervene if it would guarantee a commercial agreement.
Mr. McCallum went back on his observation. But he was deported shortly thereafter.
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