【By Guan察者网, Liu Bai】Spain signed a contract worth 1.23 million euros with Huawei in July, despite pressure from the US and Europe. The EU has been making comments ever since. Recently, Henna Virkkunen, the Executive Vice President of the European Commission responsible for technological sovereignty, said that this deal could lead to "foreign interference and security dependency risks", but both Spain and Huawei strongly refuted it.

According to "Politico", Virkkunen stated on September 17 that the Spanish government's contract with a Chinese technology company to store judicial surveillance data could lead to "foreign interference". She speculated that this decision "could create dependence on high-risk suppliers in key and sensitive areas", and that such dependence "would increase the risk of foreign interference".

However, Virkkunen did not specify what follow-up actions the EU would take.

The Spanish Interior Ministry responded to "Politico" by stating in a statement that the contract "poses no security risks and meets the security level requirements of the national security framework".

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska previously emphasized that the country's security agencies have full control over the data within the servers, and external parties cannot extract it.

Haawei strongly opposed Virkkunen's remarks, criticizing the accusation as lacking "verified, transparent and objective technical assessments", and pointing out that designating Huawei as a "high-risk supplier" unilaterally "has no legal basis and violates the principles of free trade".

On March 3, the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC) opened at the Barcelona Exhibition Centre. Visual China

This controversy originated from a 1.23 million euro contract signed between Spain and Huawei in July. According to the contract, Huawei will provide hardware to Spanish law enforcement and intelligence agencies to store monitoring data obtained by these departments under court orders.

However, this normal and compliant government contract quickly triggered anxiety from the EU, which never stops highlighting data security issues.

On July 25, the European Commission accused Huawei without any basis, claiming that the risks posed by Huawei were "significantly higher than other telecommunications suppliers", trying to prevent Spain from installing new equipment from Chinese companies.

Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Rick Crawford, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, also stirred up trouble. They wrote to the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Gabbard, asking the Trump administration to reassess the intelligence sharing mechanism with Spanish intelligence, defense, and law enforcement agencies, thereby exerting pressure on the Spanish government.

In recent years, the EU and some member states have repeatedly advocated caution towards Chinese technology, especially regarding companies deemed as "high-risk suppliers". This "high-risk" designation is based on the 2020 5G "toolbox" security standards.

However, the European Commission estimates that only 10 countries have fully implemented this toolbox, while others have partially implemented or not implemented it at all. Virkkunen said that the European Commission itself has committed to "avoid exposing communication networks to mobile networks using Huawei and ZTE."

Despite reaching an agreement with Huawei, under the interference of the United States and the EU, the Spanish government canceled another contract for upgrading the optical public fiber network with Huawei equipment at the last minute.

According to Reuters and other reports on August 29, this 1 million euro contract had already received approval from relevant public utilities, but the Spanish Ministry of Digital Transformation intervened at the last moment, citing "digital strategy and strategic autonomy reasons" to cancel the contract.

The contract was negotiated directly between public institutions and Telefónica, rather than through an open bidding process.

The public entity "Red.es", under the Spanish Ministry of Digital Transformation, explicitly required Telefónica to use Huawei equipment, because the first upgrade of the network in 2020 used the company's technology facilities, and the contract for that time was worth 550,000 euros.

Signboard of Huawei on the streets of Madrid, Spain

Huawei has repeatedly denied the baseless accusations of security risks, emphasizing that all its products strictly comply with local laws and regulations, as well as applicable product access standards, and has maintained a good record in cybersecurity.

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

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

Regarding the U.S. interference in Huawei's normal business operations in Spain, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Spain stated on July 21 that this is a typical bullying act. In a certain period of time, the U.S. has smeared, limited, and targeted specific Chinese companies globally, which has become a naked political maneuver against China. The attack on Huawei's products is another example of the U.S. generalizing the concept of national security, politicizing economic and trade issues, and maliciously blocking and suppressing Chinese enterprises. The U.S. has never provided convincing evidence. China strongly opposes this and will resolutely safeguard the legitimate and proper rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.

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

Sino-Spanish economic and trade cooperation should be conducted on the basis of mutual respect and win-win, and should not be interfered with or restricted by any third party. China fully believes that Spain, as a rule-of-law country, will provide a fair, equitable, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises' normal operations and cooperation in accordance with the principle of openness, transparency, and existing laws.

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