TORONTO (Reuters) - Huawei Chairman Liang Hua said on Thursday the company was committed to increasing investment in Canada despite the arrest of its chief financial officer by Canadian police at the request of the United States last December.
Liang spoke to reporters after the Chinese telecommunications company announced plans to expand its Canadian workforce by 20 percent and increase research and development investment by 15 percent this year.
"We won't change our approach on R&D investment. We'll continue to step up our investment in R&D in Canada," Liang said.
Meng Wanzhou, the company's CFO and also the daughter of its founder, Ren Zhengfei, has been charged with bank and wire fraud in violation of American sanctions against Iran.
Liang said the arrest of an executive on such charges was "not common and rare" and added that he could not say it was not politically driven. He said that the current relationship between China and Canada was "not ideal."
(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
