Huawei CEO believes the arrest of Meng Wanzhou will make her stronger

Huawei’s founder and CEO said he believes the arrest of his daughter, Huawei CFO, Meng Wanzhou, will “make her stronger” since she has faced very little hardship in life.

The CFO was detained on 1 December in Vancouver by Canadian authorities. The US alleges she misled banks about the relationship between Huawei and Skycom – the latter of which had done business with Iran. Meng denies the charges. She is under house arrest in Canada and faces extradition to the US.

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CEO Ren Zhengfei said the experience will make his daughter stronger.

“I think my children have grown up without experiencing much hardship. Struggling a bit can be good for them. Cuts and bruises toughen her up, and even since ancient times, heroes were born of hardship. I think this challenge will be good for my daughter,” Ren said.

“These difficulties will make her stronger and prepare her for even greater things ahead. So I’ll let her face what she is facing,” he added.

CNBC asked CEO if your daughter is a “hostage” in the ongoing trade war between the US and China, Ren replied: “Maybe.”

Ren told CNBC that his daughter, Meng, has had a change of heart.

“After all these upheavals, she has changed her mind and doesn’t want to leave. She has understood the difficulties that the company is facing and wants to help us see this through,” Ren said, adding that she will continue as the CFO if she is freed.

Ren added, he had not had communication with Trump on the matter.

“I don’t know. President Trump hasn’t shared his thoughts with me,” Ren said.

The Huawei CEO talks to his daughter on the phone every now and then.

“We have calls quite often, talking about family,” he said. “We don’t talk about anything else, because we know that our communication is being monitored. What else can we talk about? Nothing but life.”