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Huawei’s billionaire founder, Ren Zhengfei, broke years of silence Tuesday to defend China’s largest technology company from growing espionage accusations. One thing he didn’t address was the massive new campus the telecoms giant is building in Dongguan—maybe because the complex pretty much speaks for itself.

From faux Italian towers to artificial lakes and classical palaces, Huawei is recreating a wide swathe of Europe in its backyard. Ren—a civil engineer by training—is overseeing the construction of a massive new campus that neatly sums up Huawei’s global ambitions.

Photography by Qilai Shen.