The founder of Huawei Ren Zhengfei has said there is "no way the US can crush" the company, in an exclusive interview with the BBC.

Ren Zhengfei described the arrest of his daughter Meng Wanzhou, the company's chief financial officer, as politically motivated.

"There's no way the US can crush us," he said. "The world cannot leave us because we are more advanced. Even if they persuade more countries not to use us temporarily, we can always scale things down a bit."

However, he acknowledged that the potential loss of custom could have a significant impact.

The US is pursuing criminal charges against Huawei and Meng, including money laundering, bank fraud and stealing trade secrets.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned the country's allies against using Huawei technology, saying it would make it more difficult for Washington to "partner alongside them".

Australia, New Zealand, and the US have already banned or blocked Huawei from supplying equipment for their future 5G mobile broadband networks, while Canada is reviewing whether the company's products present a serious security threat.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has earlier expressed its rejection of the position of the United States from the Huawei company, saying that Beijing hopes all countries to adhere to the principle of fair competition and to jointly maintain a fair and non-discriminatory market environment. (QNA)

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