20190617_Transcript_of_A_Coffee_with_Ren

A Coffee with Ren

June 17, 2019

Tian: Absorb the energy of the universe over a cup of coffee. I'm Tian Wei. They say a good conversation could be just like drinking a cup of black coffee and as stimulating as it is hard. I'm not sure whether today's conversation is going to be a really difficult one, but it should certainly be stimulating intellectually and thought-provoking. If you take a look at the panelists on the stage, they're trail blazers in their respective fields and certainly very outspoken about the challenges that we are facing today. I hope it's a conversation among minds without borders. First up, A Coffee with Ren, so let's start with Ren. Ren Zhengfei, founder and CEO of Huawei. Of course, a legendary entrepreneur from China who has made China one of the world leaders of 5G. Huawei now, as far as I understand, is the world's largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment and the second largest maker of smartphones. So, Mr. Ren, welcome.

On his right, Nicholas Negroponte. The reason I introduce Mr. Negroponte second is because he has just accepted Mr. Ren as his student. Big news. A tech visionary and co-founder together with Jerome B. Wiesner of the MIT media lab. And he has been providing funding for start-up companies around the world, including WIRED magazine and Sohu. He has also decided to devote the remainder of his time, which is a lot, to opening science and global connectivity. Good to see you, Nicholas.

Next, we have George Gilder, certainly a fun individual, as well as a tech guru and a futurist, according to many. George is President Ronald Reagan's most quoted leading author and has been a venture capitalist in the US and Israel on many important projects. He enjoys his time as a runner and also as a skier. George, good to see you.

Last but certainly not least, we have a wonderful lady sitting on the stage as well. A long-time commitment to Huawei, 25 years working for this company, and a colleague of Mr. Ren, Ms. Catherine Chen, Senior Vice President and Director of the Board of Huawei, welcome.

Q1 Tian: Okay, A Coffee with Ren. I really need to start with Mr. Ren. Mr. Ren, is it because you cannot go to the US so you have all your friends coming to China for coffee? Ren: Professor Negroponte was a teacher of Steve Jobs, and his son was once Jobs' roommate. That means that by becoming his student today, I am becoming one of Jobs' peers. I feel very honored. As for Mr. Gilder, he wrote the preface for Built on Value, a book by Professor Huang Weiwei. The preface is excellent, and I greatly admire him. I respect both of them very much. It's also fantastic that we have this opportunity to meet you, a very famous TV host, here today.

Q2 Tian: I want to turn the table to both of you here. Aren't you afraid of being politically incorrect, coming to China and sitting here in the sitting room of Huawei while knowing what's going on between the US and China?

George Gilder: No. No, I think that I am contributing to saving the United States from the terrible mistake that it's currently making, epitomized by the outrageous bans and tariffs, as well as restrictions it is placing on Huawei. But also, I can contribute to a re-construction of Internet architecture to address the terrible security collapse across the Internet that is making everybody