On June 17, Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei sat down with two of the world's most prominent thinkers on technology at the company's Shenzhen headquarters. 

Since early 2019, Huawei executives, and Ren in particular, have granted incredible media access to the company. Ren has hosted at least 16 round tables and one-on-one interviews with journalists, according to transcripts of media interviews available on Huawei's website. 

With the spotlight on the 74-year-old founder of the world's largest telecommunications equipment supplier, we take a look at Ren's previous comments on 5G and security, the U.S. trade blacklist, and his views on the protracted China-U.S. trade war.

On Huawei's 5G development

Huawei has taken an early lead in developing the next generation of wireless technology 5G, before one can conceive of its transformative effect.

Huawei has signed more than 30 commercial contracts with carriers for 5G and secured 2,570 5G-related patents. It is reported that Huawei has a two-year lead in 5G over its competitors, the most prominent of which are Ericsson and Nokia.

But it is also feared that Huawei's advantage in 5G could be exploited for espionage, presenting national security risk to countries that uses Huawei equipment. In face of mounting suspicion from the U.S. and Europe that 5G is related to military technology, Ren has offered his reassurance repeatedly when talking to international media.

"5G is not an atomic bomb… 5G brings benefits to people and offers us information channels and pipes," said Ren in an interview with CBS News. He reiterated that Huawei only provided equipment while channels and pipes are controlled by operators and governments. "Ultimate authority still resides with the countries where the equipment is used." 

On the blacklisting of Huawei

In May, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it would put Huawei on a blacklist that curtail its access to critical U.S. suppliers. Any company that attempts to sell products to Huawei needs to apply for a special license.

Since the U.S. announcement, a few other countries have joined the U.S.' rallying cry in shutting Huawei out of their 5G telecommunications network.

But Ren was not concerned. He revealed that Huawei had contingency plans way before the U.S.' blacklisting. "If they can no longer supply us, the proportion of our own in-house products will increase," Ren told Bloomberg in an interview, "we will find our own way to solve our problem." 

Even after the Trump administration announced to temporarily ease export restrictions against Huawei, Ren did not shift his stance. In an interview with CCTV, Ren reaffirmed that the company had already made preparations, including stockpiling chips and trying to develop its own software system.

Ren further made the point that blacklisting Huawei would bring financial loss to suppliers as well as consumers in the U.S. "Without us, the financial reports of many US companies will worsen, resulting in huge fluctuations in the stock market," Ren told CNN. For people in the U.S. who live in villa districts in the countryside, Huawei is their best and most affordable access to 8K resolution TV experience.

"We are a company that is customer-centric; therefore I think it is possible that we will sell our equipment to them."

On the arrest of his daughter

In December last year, the chief financial officer of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada at the request of the U.S. on the grounds of bank fraud to evade sanctions against Iran.

The arrest of Meng was examined by media outlets against the backdrop of the geopolitical tug of war between the U.S. and China. Asked by journalists at a media roundtabl if he thought Meng was targeted because of her position at Huawei, Ren insisted that the case should be settled in court.

"The case of Meng Wanzhou right now is in legal proceedings. So, we would rather leave it to legal proceedings. I won't provide much comment here."

Ren nonetheless revealed that he had been talking to Meng over the phone after her arrest. 

On the trade war with the U.S.

Despite the high-profile crackdown on his company, Ren is surprisingly unruffled. He has always insisted that there is nothing political about Huawei.

"It's a big joke," he told U.S. media when asked about the trade war. "How are we related to China-U.S. trade?"

With the eyes of the whole world on Huawei, Ren said he thanks the U.S. government for the advertising. He believes the Trump administration has made a mistake targeting Huawei, but at the same time it serves as a reminder for China to improve itself.

"I liked the U.S. a lot when I was young. Now I still like the U.S.," Ren told TIME, adding that "American spirit" had inspired the corporate culture of Huawei in the past several decades. "So U.S. politicians are holding onto the wrong thing for leverage," he said.

As for the intellectual property theft the U.S. alleged, Ren pointed out that people were talking about things that the U.S. doesn't have yet. "How can we steal what they don't have?" he asked.

No backdoors

Addressing concerns that Huawei would spy on its customers and other countries on behalf of the Chinese government, Ren is adamant that his company will not do anything like that.

There is no law in China that requires private companies to install mandatory backdoors, the 74-year-old pointed out repeatedly when pressed about it.

"We are not going to risk the disgust of our country and our customers all over the world because of something like that (backdoors). We would lose all our business and then we would not be able to repay the banks. I'm not going to take that risk," Ren told the BBC in February.

Ren has objected the U.S. accusation as "politically motivated," and said that the courts will settle it. "Let the facts speak for themselves. We cannot depend on speculation – it's not the law," he said.

If the U.S. were to succeed in getting other countries to shun Huawei, Ren said he would just focus on the countries that want to buy from Huawei.

"America doesn't represent the world. America only represents a portion of the world," Ren said. "In s market economy, we are customer-centered. When they want to buy, we will sell it to them. We are focusing on the countries that want to buy our products," he said.