HUAWEI’S founder Ren Zhengfei on Tuesday rejected claims his company is used by the Chinese Government to spy and said he missed his daughter, who is being held by Canadian authorities, the Financial Times newspaper reported.

Huawei had “never received any request from any government to provide improper information,” the newspaper quoted Ren as saying in an interview.

“I love my country, I support the Party, but I will never do anything to harm any country in the world,” he said, adding he missed his daughter Meng Wanzhou “very much.”

Huawei has confirmed the accuracy of Ren’s comments. Ren, who founded Huawei in 1987 and largely keeps a low profile, said he owned 1.14 percent of the company’s shares.

China’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday urged Canada to immediately release Meng, saying the case was an abuse of legal procedures.

Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the comment at a daily news briefing in Beijing.

Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecom equipment, has been facing intense scrutiny in the West over security concerns.

No evidence has been produced publicly and the firm has repeatedly denied the accusations, but some Western countries have restricted Huawei’s access to their markets.

Ren dismissed fears over the security of Huawei’s equipment, saying “no law in China requires any company to install mandatory backdoors (that could be used for spying).”

He also played down the risk Huawei faced from being blocked from the rollout of 5G telecom networks by some countries.

“It’s always been the case. You can’t work with everyone. ... we’ll shift our focus to better serve countries that welcome Huawei,” he said, adding the company had 30 contracts globally to build 5G networks.

“The message to the United States I want to communicate is collaboration and shared success. In our world of high tech, it’s increasingly impossible for any single company or country to sustain or to support the world’s needs.”(SD-Agencies)