STOCKHOLM — Chinese telecoms giant, Huawei Technologies, faced a ban by a Swedish court for selling 5G equipment in the country, following Stockholm’s decision to bar the company in October last year.
Sweden’s regulator, the Post and Telecom Authority, banned the company and its Chinese counterpart, Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation, from the network in October because of security concerns on the nation’s intelligence services recommendation.
Huawei lost its initial appeal in December.
A Huawei representative said that the company was disappointed with the court’s verdict, adding that it was “not the final ruling” on its case.
“We are currently studying the judgment and the court’s reasoning to determine what further legal remedies to pursue to protect our legitimate rights and interests,” a statement from the company states.
“Our door remains open to constructive dialogues with relevant parties to work out practical solutions to mitigate any security concern.”
It states that the regulator had “failed to produce any facts or evidence to demonstrate that Huawei’s equipment has technical security issues.”
This is the latest blow to Huawei’s European plans after a series of bans in the continent. The company was banned from taking part in Romania’s 5G roll-out, also citing security risks.
Last year, the U.K. had banned the installation of Huawei 5G equipment starting in September 2021 and further ordered Huawei to be phased out of its 5G network by 2027, following in the footsteps of the US.
Other European countries, including France and Germany, have mulled a ban on Huawei. Last July, the European Union encouraged member states to stop using suppliers that may add to cybersecurity risks, a move that was widely seen as targeting Chinese firms.
However, the Swedish court’s decision to uphold the ban will stoke speculation that Swedish giant Ericsson, both a competitor and a Huawei customer, will face retaliation in China.
In response to questions about the Swedish ban of Huawei and Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation, China had said in January that it would “take all necessary measures” to defend its companies overseas.
“We urge Sweden to immediately correct its approach, considering the overall position of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, and meet China halfway to find a workable solution,” said Gao Feng, a former foreign ministry spokesman.
According to local media, Ericsson’s chief executive had lobbied Anna Hallberg, the country’s trade minister, after the ban on Huawei, to say the ban would be “bad for Ericsson” because it “singles out our Chinese competitor in a way no other European Union country has done.”
This also comes as Swedish companies faced blowback in China this year.
Swedish clothing giant H&M saw a consumer boycott after it announced it would not use cotton from the Western Chinese region of Xinjiang because of the suspected use of forced labor.
“Even if the Chinese government did not consciously try to send a signal to Sweden with the H&M boycott, people in Sweden noticed it — it was big news,” said Bjorn Jerden, director of the Swedish National China Centre.
“There is a general expectation that economic retaliation from China because of the Huawei case might be possible.”
Earlier this month, the Joseph R. Biden administration included Huawei on a list of 59 Chinese firms it said had ties to China’s military or surveillance industries, barring US entities from investing in them.
“With China increasingly represented by Wolf Warrior diplomats, Huawei’s reassurance that its roles in critical infrastructures — including 5G — do not look sufficiently reassuring to democracies that are not friends of Trump,” said Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
The US Innovation and Competition Act that has earmarked $54.2 billion towards shoring up America’s competence on many technological fronts has left China’s Huawei Technologies on a list of local entities, banning it from gaining access to US hardware and software.
Sweden’s and China’s ties go back to the 17th century. Sweden was the first Western country to establish official diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, which took place on May 9, 1950.
In 2006, the trade value between the two countries added up to $6.73 billion. As of 2016, Sweden had become China’s ninth-largest trading partner in the European Union, and China had been Sweden’s largest trade partner in Asia for four consecutive years.
(With inputs from ANI)
(Edited by Amrita Das and Saptak Datta)
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