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During the past 20 years, the author has watch China move from being a developing country into an industrial superpower
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If anything, Huawei’s reputation in the U.S. appears to be worsening rather than improving. The former Homeland Security official and congressional staffers, who also requested anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities, grumble about the company’s work with BT, saying it opens the potential for China to spy on intelligence shared between the U.S. and Britain. Huawei has become a hot-button issue leading up to the U.S. Presidential elections as well. Perry was called out by the Washington Post recently for meeting with Ren and trying to persuade the Huawei chief to set up shop in Texas, despite the long-standing national security concerns. A video from October 2010 shows Perry at the ceremony in Plano to celebrate Huawei’s new headquarters. “This is a company with a really strong worldwide reputation,” Perry said at the event, adding later that “the ripple effect of this company is going to be quite substantial.”
Part of Huawei’s strategy for recasting its image is to hire non-Chinese for positions of power. Last month the company hired John Suffolk, the former top information technology officer for the British government, as its new global head of cybersecurity. Suffolk will be based in Shenzhen and, like Bross, will report directly to CEO Ren.
In fact, Huawei has developed a remarkable knack for luring talent away from other companies. There are now 23,000 foreigners working for the company. Tian Feng, president of HR, says globalization of the Huawei workforce will only continue. “Although Huawei employees are in all the corners of the world, they are very happy and enjoy their life and work,” Tian says in an interview at Huawei’s headquarters complex in Shenzhen. He glances at some index cards in his hands and proclaims brightly: “We want to be open and deliver the right and positive information to the public. We are not mysterious anymore.”
One obstacle remains in Huawei’s quest for openness: founder Ren’s Garbo-like determination to stay out of the spotlight. He eschews thought-leader basics such as public speeches, TV appearances, and media interviews. “If you go to Huawei’s office in Shenzhen, everyone is speaking like their CEO is in another world,” says Dimitris Mavrakis, senior analyst with London-based research firm Informa Telecoms & Media. “It gives you an impression that their CEO is surrounded by a distortion field and no one can touch him.”
Huawei executives struggle when asked about Ren’s silence. Deputy Chairman Xu says Huawei’s founder would be happy to open up, if only his handlers would let him. “The team keeps on telling him since you haven’t met with the media for so many years, why start?” says Xu, a slightly built PhD from Nanjing University of Science and Technology. “Better not to open the door.”
Huawei has revealed some information about the boss, including details about his youth in a poor rural part of China and his days in the Chinese equivalent of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “He’s a real person,” explains Richard Brennan, a 62-year-old American who works in the Shenzhen office coordinating Huawei engineers’ work on new types of telecom standards. “He does do appearances. He’s not unphotographed. He has a family.”
Bross says American mistrust of Huawei eventually will go away. “We had 89 percent growth here last year,” he says. “In the U.S., customers have been voting with their wallets.” He’s an optimist about U.S.-China relations in general. His eldest daughter has gone to China to complete her studies, and is thinking about becoming a consultant for Chinese entrepreneurs looking to work with foreign companies. Bross borrows from this anecdote, saying he joined Huawei not for the fat paycheck but rather for a chance to unite two cultures. “I am looking to create an environment where we can grow trust,” he says. “That is a challenge that you can get up for.” But if all that goodwill stuff fails, Huawei will resort to persistence. “The fact of the matter is that Huawei is here to stay.”
It’s morning, and Bross is talking over coffee in his huge kitchen, where plaques bearing the Ten Commandments adorn the walls. His two elementary school-age kids—he has five children in all—have just come in for breakfast after shoeing their horses Mac, Jack, and Billy Bob. They’ll soon get ready to head out for entrepreneur day camp, where they role-play as banker, shopkeeper, and mayor of a make-believe city and learn how to levy taxes and create products. The oldest son is prepping for his internship at a financial-services firm, while the eldest daughter enjoys her last stretch of stateside vacation before heading back to China. “There’s hope for this country yet,” Bross says.
Vance is a technology writer for Bloomberg Businessweek. Einhorn is Asia regional editor in Bloomberg Businessweek's Hong Kong bureau.
