Mubasher: Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei said that Washington’s campaign against the telecoms giant poses a risk to the international reputation of the US.

“If this US administration always treats other countries, companies or individuals in a ferocious way, then no one would dare invest in the United States,” Ren told CNN on Wednesday.

The White House sought in recent months to pressure allies to ban the usage of Huawei’s telecommunications hardware in fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks, on the grounds that the Chinese government could access it for espionage purposes.

Ren praised the US economy as a river of innovation, but complained that his company was receiving unfair treatment.

“Everybody in the world is talking about cybersecurity and they are singling out Huawei,” he said

This justified the lawsuit lodged last week by Huawei against the US administration challenging a recent bill barring federal agencies from using the Chinese company’s products.

“We chose to have our voice heard at this moment because the US government considers us a threat to national security,” Ren stated.

While rejecting any suggestion that Huawei is under the control of the Chinese government, Ren said he would rather close the business than yield to demands to use the company’s products for spying.