After Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested, Hong Kong media have unveiled details of the local properties owned by her and her father.
Meng, the CFO of Huawei Technologies and her father, Ren Zhengfei, founder and chairman of Huawei, owned 22 property tenements in Hong Kong with a value of about HK$300 million ($38.4 million).
Meng is the eldest daughter of Ren and his ex-wife Meng Jun. She entered Huawei in 1993 and worked there secretly for more than two decades. In 2013, the fact that she was Ren’s daughter was finally made public. Her brother Ren Ping also holds an important position in the company.
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily reported on Dec. 7 that Ren Zhengfei purchased property in Hong Kong under an assumed name. In 2003, he used the name of Huawei to purchase four connected high-rise tenements in Island Harbourview, one of the largest private housing estates in Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. In 2004, he bought the remaining two tenements on the same floor, and then all tenements on two other floors. He purchased a total of 18 tenements, each of which are worth HK$ 3-4 million (several hundred thousand dollars) in that year.
Meng used her name to buy tenements in Sorrento, a residential complex occupying the northern edge of Union Square in Hong Kong with the price of HK$33 million ($4.22 million). The next year, she bought a duplex tenement on Island Harbourview with HK$18 million ($2.3 million), which is believed to be Meng and her husband’s residence in Hong Kong.
All the 22 tenements receive funds from mortgages, estimated at $HK300 million, according to the report. Meng was also president of three listed companies in Hong Kong—Huawei Tech. Investment Co., Ltd., Huawei International Co. Limited, and Hua Ying management Co. Limited.
Huawei has not been listed, and the company’s capital and management status is not transparent. In addition, its president Ren Zhengfei was a former officer of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Sun Yafang, former chairman of Huawei, had served in the Ministry of State Security (MSS) for a long time before joining the company in 1992. After joining Huawei, he was responsible for businesses with governments of different countries and militaries.
Huawei, with its military background and national security background, has made Western countries, including the United States, alert to national security issues when dealing with the company.
In 2012, U.S. Congress published a report warning that Huawei could be acting on behalf of the CCP to spy on American citizens.
