China's telecoms giant Huawei is now facing severe headwinds from Washington's sanctions. Under such circumstances, what are the thoughts of the founder, CEO Ren Zhengfei, who has grown the company into a global giant in a single generation?
"Huawei wanted to light a lighthouse called 5G (fifth generation mobile communication) (to illuminate the unknown world). However, as soon as he struck the matchstick, he was knocked down by the club that the United States swung down. I got lost."
“At first, I wondered if there was something wrong with our compliance procedures. I finally realized that they wanted Huawei dead."
"The thirst for survival inspires Huawei. We take the path of finding ways to save ourselves."
The above remarks are part of what Mr. Ren said when he visited Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fudan University, Southeast University, and Nanjing University from July 29 to 31 this year. On August 29, Shanghai Jiao Tong University made it clear from the summary of the round-table discussion published through the official SNS account.
"Learn from enemies to become truly strong"
The purpose of Mr. Ren's visit to these universities was to promote innovation and develop human resources through industry-academia collaboration. Ren also said:
"No matter what happens, we do not hate the United States because (the sanctions against Huawei) are a matter of some politicians, not representative of American society. We really want to be strong. We must learn from everyone, including our enemies.”
Regarding the current state of innovation in China, Mr. Ren severely evaluated, "If the industrial revolution in England is 100, today's America is 150 and China is 70." And the 30 that China lacks is originality, without which it would be in the middle-income trap. He warned that a slowdown in economic growth would halt economic growth and cause all sorts of social problems to erupt.
This article is provided by Caixin.In addition, Mr. Ren said, "Future technology lies in the darkness that no one can see. Universities are responsible for lighting the lighthouse that illuminates it." I hope that education will lead society forward," he said, expressing hope that Chinese universities will play a central role in basic research around the world in the next 10 to 20 years.
(Caixin Reporter: Ye Zhenqi) *The original will be delivered on August 29.
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