【By Observer News, Ruan Jiaqi】

Spain, which is facing dual pressure from the United States and the European Union, has canceled a contract to upgrade a public fiber optic network using equipment from Chinese vendor Huawei at the last minute. According to Reuters and other reports on the 29th, this contract worth 10 million euros had already been approved by relevant public utilities departments on Monday (the 25th), but the Spanish Ministry of Digital Transformation intervened at the last moment, citing "digital strategy and strategic autonomy reasons" to cancel the contract.

According to Spain's "El Mundo", after nearly a month of "non-public negotiations", the public entity "Red.es" under the Spanish Ministry of Digital Transformation approved on Monday to award a contract to Telefónica, a Spanish telecom company, to upgrade the performance of fiber optic networks for multiple public institutions. The plan is to install Huawei's next-generation equipment in the public fiber optic backbone network covering over 16,000 kilometers across Spain.

This infrastructure, named RedIRIS, mainly provides services for Spain's national research and education network, connecting over 500 universities and research centers in Spain. At the same time, the facility is also used for other purposes, such as supporting parts of the Ministry of Defense, and recently, military academies and educational centers under the Ministry of Defense have also been connected to the network.

A official document obtained by "El Mundo" shows that the core purpose of this tender was "supplying, installing, and managing Huawei brand router components by Telefónica," upgrading the IP connection service bandwidth of RedIRIS from 100Gbps to 400Gbps to enhance network security and meet new demands such as supercomputing and Ministry of Defense services.

Tender Contract Screenshot

The report said that the contract was carried out through direct negotiation between public institutions and Telefónica rather than an open tender. "Red.es" explicitly required Telefónica to use Huawei equipment in the new contract, because the network was first upgraded in 2020 with the technology facilities of this Chinese company, and the value of that contract was 5.5 million euros.

"Red.es" further explained that the reason the contract was only negotiated exclusively with Telefónica, without opening it to other bidders, was that this upgrade was a continuation of the 2020 contract.

The document states, "All components must be installed on Huawei routers supplied by Telefónica. Telefónica, as the supplier, is responsible for the contract, providing warranty, technical support, and maintenance services for all Huawei equipment."

According to the technical terms of the contract, the upgrade plan will carry out work at multiple network access points within five months, covering locations including Seville, Madrid, Bizkaia, Mallorca, Zaragoza, and Valencia. The specific work includes supplying, installing, integrating, and managing Huawei router hardware to increase device capacity. The contract technical specifications file also shows that the required hardware is marked as Huawei products.

According to Reuters, the spokesperson for Telefónica refused to comment on the cancellation of the contract. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Digital Transformation told "El País" that the contract was canceled due to a strategic change, and "the government will draft a new contract to update one-third of the equipment on the RedIRIS network, as the existing equipment is approaching its service life."

Huawei has repeatedly denied the baseless security risk allegations, emphasizing that all its products strictly comply with local laws and regulations, as well as applicable product access standards, and maintains a good record in network security.

"El País" pointed out that from the perspective of domestic Spanish regulations, this network upgrade contract using Huawei's new components does not violate any rules. Unlike Germany, Sweden, Lithuania and other EU countries, Spain has not issued any so-called "high-risk supplier" list to prohibit government or telecom operators from purchasing equipment from Chinese suppliers.

On the contrary, the Spanish Ministry of Digital Transformation has included Huawei in its public institution "5G Security Operations Center" (SOC 5G) to be responsible for supervising and certifying the security of the next generation of 5G mobile communication systems, networks and services. The department explained that Huawei only plays an advisory role in SOC 5G, has no decision-making power, and has no access to critical information.

This approach obviously makes the EU and the US, which are actively suppressing Chinese suppliers, very unhappy. For a long time, Europe and the US have unjustly labeled Chinese communication companies such as Huawei and ZTE as so-called "high-risk suppliers" under the pretext of improving network security, urging countries to reduce their reliance on their equipment, and even baselessly demanding restrictions on the use of related equipment.

China has repeatedly stated clearly that this is a typical presumption of guilt, which China resolutely opposes, and strongly urges Europe and the US to abide by international trade and economic rules, avoid politicization and securitization, and not use the name of security to suppress other countries' enterprises.

Hong Kong media "South China Morning Post" reported that as of August 2024, under the pressure of the European Commission, 11 of the 27 EU member states followed the EU's "5G Cybersecurity Toolbox" recommendations, legislating to require the removal of so-called "high-risk suppliers" equipment from network infrastructure, but Huawei and other Chinese companies' equipment still occupy an important position in European telecom networks.

Just last month, the US again criticized a new contract signed by Spain and Huawei for voice recording equipment, claiming that China might use Huawei equipment to eavesdrop on Western countries, suffering from "paranoid delusions". The EU followed suit, baselessly accusing Huawei of bringing risks that were "significantly higher than other telecom suppliers".

The so-called "security concerns" are actually self-serving. The Spanish Ministry of the Interior has clarified that this cooperation "poses no security risks". It specifically pointed out that the contract "has been verified and confirmed by independent certification agencies" and complies with the management regulations for the use of electronic equipment in the Spanish public sector.

Some Spanish officials privately emphasized that the risks of Europe's reliance on American technology are actually greater than relying on Chinese equipment. Especially since Trump returned to the White House, this concern has become more intense. At present, the Spanish Sanchez government has tense relations with the Trump administration due to issues such as military spending and tariff extortion.

Regarding the U.S. interference in Huawei's normal business in Spain, on July 21, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Spain stated that this is a typical bullying act. In recent periods, the U.S. has smeared, limited, and struck specific Chinese enterprises globally, becoming a naked anti-China political maneuver. This attack on Huawei products is another example of the U.S. generalizing the concept of national security, politicizing trade issues, and maliciously blocking and suppressing Chinese enterprises. The U.S. has never presented convincing evidence. China strongly opposes this and will firmly safeguard the legitimate and proper rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.

The Chinese government has always required Chinese enterprises to conduct foreign economic cooperation based on law and compliance. All products sold by Huawei in the Spanish market fully comply with Spanish laws and regulations as well as applicable product access standards and scope. The data cannot be accessed from the outside, which is safe. All information stored is controlled exclusively by the user. We hope the U.S. respects science and common sense and does not make false statements.

Sino-Spanish economic and trade cooperation should be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and equal benefit, and should not be interfered with or restricted by any third party. China fully believes that Spain, as a country ruled by law, will provide a fair, equitable, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises to operate normally in accordance with the principles of market openness and transparency and the current laws.

This article is an exclusive article by Observer News, and unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7544214194548228649/

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