Huawei, a Chinese multinational company, is the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world. Image by Shutterstock. Huawei, a Chinese multinational company, is the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world. Image by Shutterstock.

Despite having sustained “huge losses” as a result of the U.S. government's ban on Huawei Technologies Co.'s products, the Chinese telecom giant has no plans to abandon the American market, according to Huawei Chief Legal Officer Song Liuping.

Liuping said in an interview with Bloomberg that a law barring U.S. government agencies from buying or using Huawei's goods or services had “damaged many aspects of Huawei's business.”

“We could lose existing projects as well as further opportunities. Our partners may stop working with us as it damages Huawei's global reputation,” he said. But he added the U.S. accounts for 20 percent to 30 percent of the global telecom market and that “leaving the U.S. market is really only a last resort.”

“We haven't fully considered exiting the U.S.,” he said.

Liuping made his remarks after Huawei announced Wednesday it had filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government in an effort to overturn the ban on its products, which the company argues is unconstitutional.

Addressing concerns that Huawei is engaged in espionage for the Chinese government, Liuping asserted that there is “no evidence to prove Huawei poses any threat to other countries. As a business, posing any threat to other countries or cybersecurity would be like suicide.”

He added Huawei has “never received any request from any government, including the Chinese government, to extort any back doors for intelligence.”

“In the future, we will also refuse to take such a request, be it from the Chinese government or any government in the world,” he said.

President Donald Trump has suggested he would intervene in the U.S. Department of Justice's criminal case against Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei's founder, if he thought it would help America reach a trade deal with China.

Wanzhou was arrested in December in Canada at the behest of U.S. authorities, who are still seeking her extradition on fraud charges.  

While Liuping asserted that Wanzhou's arrest was politically motivated, he noted Huawei did not welcome Trump's intervention in the case, saying, “We don't agree that administrative power should intervene in the judicial system. We believe in judicial independence.”

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