Huawei exhibition booth at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024 in Barcelona, Spain Photo: VCG

The Spanish Interior Ministry on Tuesday (local time) reiterated that the government's contract with Huawei to purchase certain storage equipment poses no security risk, and that the public tender was awarded independently, according to an Euractiv report. A Chinese expert on Wednesday hailed the move as pragmatic and rational, in stark contrast to political hostility shown by some in the West toward the Chinese tech giant. 

"Contracting Huawei storage systems does not pose any security risk. The contract complies with the levels required by the National Security Scheme by independent certification authorities," the ministry said, per the Euractiv report.

Spain signed a 12-million-euro ($12.96 million) contract with the Chinese company for it to provide the hardware to store wiretaps authorized by judges for law enforcement and the intelligence services, the Financial Times reported last week.

Some EU and US politicians criticized the move with unfounded accusations against the Chinese tech firm. The Financial Times reported that the European Commission claimed that "Huawei represents materially higher risks" than other telecoms suppliers, a retort that came days after two senior US lawmakers asked Washington to review intelligence sharing with Spain because of the Huawei contract.

"Spain's move reveals a stark contrast between the political hostility shown by some in the West toward Chinese tech companies like Huawei and the pragmatic, rational approach adopted by the Spanish government in its economic cooperation with China," Jian Junbo, director of the Center for China-Europe Relations at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"The procurement of Huawei equipment shows that Spain maintains a firm positive stance on China-related cooperation and is willing to uphold its own judgment and market principles despite external political pressure," Jian noted.

Previously, Huawei's press office said in response to questions from Bloomberg News that the technology used within the wiretaps system "is a common flash storage hardware that complies with the regulations related" to national security, Bloomberg reported last week.

"Huawei has no access to customer data. All the information stored in hardware belongs to and is at the exclusive disposal of the customer," the company said.

Huawei has been operating in Europe for many years, and its equipment is widely used across the continent. There has never been a single proven security incident involving Huawei, nor is there any concrete evidence of alleged security risks, said Ma Jihua, a veteran telecom industry observer.
 
This further demonstrates that some countries' accusations against Huawei are groundless, Ma told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

Ma stressed that Spain's decision to procure Huawei equipment is clearly based on its own commercial interests. Huawei's products are technologically advanced, competitively priced, and offer superior after-sales service - advantages that make them highly attractive in the marketplace, he said.

As for US interference in Huawei's legitimate business operations in Spain, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Spain responded on July 21, calling it a typical act of bullying.

The spokesperson noted that for some time now, the US has engaged in a global campaign to smear, restrict, and suppress certain Chinese companies - an act of blatant anti-China political manipulation. The spokesperson stressed that economic and trade cooperation between China and Spain is conducted on the basis of mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit, and should not be subject to any third-party interference or disruption.

This comes at a time when US tariff policies are complicating its relationship with Europe. Spain is highlighting the importance of diversified economic partnerships. "We have to diversify our commercial relations with blocs that want an agreement with Europe," said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday, as reported by the Xinhua News Agency. 

Meanwhile, Salvador Illa, president of the regional government of Catalonia, who recently concluded a visit to China, expressed a positive stance on bilateral cooperation. Illa said that Spain is willing to enhance its exchange and dialogue with China, deepen cooperation in areas such as interparty relations, localities, the economy and trade, culture, and science and technology, and bring more benefits to the people in both countries, according to Xinhua.

From a broader perspective, Spain's move underscores the urgent need for a more rational and pragmatic environment for normal economic and trade exchanges between China and Europe, Jian emphasized. Spain's decision to pursue a market-based transaction with a Chinese company in defiance of political pressure is a rejection of the current climate of irrationality and offers a valuable reference point for the development of China-Europe relations, Jian added.