Huawei founder denies spying and praises Trump

In a rare media appearance Huawei's founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei has denied his company would assist Chinese state espionage and praised President Donald Trump.

Though normally considered something of a private figure, Mr Ren gave an interview to respond to a number of scandals which have rocked public perception of his company in recent months.

Mr Ren's daughter Meng Wanzhou, who is also the company's chief financial officer, is currently facing extradition to the US after being arrested in Canada in relation to suspected sanctions violations.

Ms Meng is suspected of involvement in Huawei's alleged transfer of telecommunications equipment to Iran.

In what was widely perceived to be a response to Ms Weng's detention, China recently sentenced a Canadian drug smuggler to death despite initially handing him 15 years in 2016.

Mr Ren, a former engineer in the Chinese army, told reporters that he missed his daughter very much but denied being in regular contact with Beijing.

In what appeared to be a move of cordiality with the US - which has internationally been advocating for caution regarding the adoption of Huawei's equipment - Mr Ren told journalists: "Trump is a great president. He dares to massively cut taxes, which will benefit business."

"Huawei is only a sesame seed in the trade conflict between China and the US," he added.

He also addressed suggestions that Huawei posed an espionage or cyber security risk to critical infrastructure in western countries.

"I love my country, I support the Communist Party, but I will not do anything to harm any country in the world," he told reporters."

"I don't see a close connection between my personal political beliefs and the businesses of Huawei," he added.

Concerns over the company have grown in recent months, with countries expressing fears that its technology could be manipulated by Beijing to support China's aggressive spying efforts.

But Mr Ren dismissed those concerns, saying "no law in China requires any company to install mandatory backdoors [that could be used for spying]" and adding that there had been "no serious security incidents" at Huawei.

He said there was "no evidence" of Huawei equipment posing a threat to any country's critical infrastructure, and claimed he would deny any requests from Beijing to access its clients' sensitive information.

Last month, the UK, US, and more than a dozen affected allies denounced Beijing and indicted members of a cyber espionage group for a hacking campaign targeting western business.

Poland is among those considering a prohibition on the use of Huawei products after one of the company's employees, a Chinese citizen, was arrested in the country on suspicion of espionage , alongside a Polish former counter-intelligence officer.

In the UK, the National Cyber Security Centre has warned that it "has concerns around a range of technical issues" affecting Huawei, and "has set out improvements the company must make".

The NCSC is due to publish its annual analysis of how Huawei is meeting these improvements in February.