Huaweigate: Europe Guards Against China’s Cash for Influence Schemes

A photograph shows the logo of Chinese company Huawei at their main UK offices in Reading, west of London, on Jan. 28, 2020. Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

European authorities are investigating an alleged “cash for influence” scheme in which as many as 15 current and former members of the European Parliament (MEPs) took bribes from Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications company.

The case, initiated by Belgian intelligence, indicates that greater vigilance is needed in Europe and elsewhere against malign foreign influence operations.

On March 13, more than 100 police reportedly raided 21 offices in Belgium, France, and Portugal, including offices of lobbyists working for Huawei in Brussels, the capital of the European Union. Federal police detained several individuals for questioning. One arrest was made in France. Two European parliamentary assistants are under suspicion and had their offices sealed by court order. An office in Portugal was raided on suspicion of receiving wire transfers meant for MEPs.

On March 14, the European Parliament banned Huawei lobbyists from its premises.

The investigation is of alleged corruption, forgery, and criminal organization, as well as possible money laundering. Illegal gifts were allegedly received as far back as 2021 in Brussels in exchange for taking political positions. The gifts allegedly included food, travel, soccer tickets, and conference expenses worth more than 150 euros per MEP, the limit after which such gifts must be reported. It apparently costs little to buy an MEP.

Huawei is suspected of close collaboration with China’s military and intelligence services, as well as with Iran, North Korea, and Cuba. Huawei has the technological means to do massive amounts of damage via espionage and sabotage in the 170 countries around the world in which it is active. While Huawei is banned from U.S. telecom infrastructure, its involvement in Mexico has been called a “trojan horse at the border.” In Europe, Huawei remains deeply embedded in the continent’s telecoms at approximately the same level as in 2022, despite warnings from the United States and European Union.

The company’s reach and resources are huge, with a market capitalization of $178 billion. Huawei uses some of that money to engage in networking at a high level of European politics, including with former European Council President Charles Michel.

Huawei apparently seeks to use its influence to integrate into and build all layers of Europe’s artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure, including for government and university clients. The company advocates a “balance” between security and competitiveness.

But do Europeans really want to sacrifice their security for cheaper telecoms?

The vast majority of Huawei’s activities in Europe are legal, but still problematic given their high level and links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In November, Huawei hosted the European Innovation Day 2024 in Paris. Participants reportedly included Nicola Caputo, the regional minister of Campania in Italy and a member of the European Committee of the Regions; Ximo Puig, the Spanish permanent representative to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development; Ana Paula Nishio de Sousa, director of Digital Transformation and AI at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization; and Rebeca de Sancho Mayoral, the European Commission senior adviser on EU Innovation and Access to Finance. One of the events in Paris was cosponsored by Euronews.

At another event in Davos in January, a reporter lobbed softball questions to Huawei’s Europe CEO Kenneth Fredriksen. He said that Huawei would like to be “an alternative to Europe” in multiple ways. Huawei would continue “what we have been doing for the last two decades, contributing to Europe’s digitalization and I think also help Europe to basically prepare for AI, become AI ready.”

Fredriksen noted that AI is more than an application layer. He said, “You need to have the infrastructure from end to end in order to be able to realize the full potential of AI.”

The Davos event, an “exclusive executive roundtable lunch,” reportedly included the participation of Fredriksen, Michel, former Vice President of the European Council Silvana Koch-Mehrin, and Romania’s Minister of Economy Ivan Bogdan.

Michel made points to a reporter that would be welcome in Beijing, including an implicit threat of retaliation against the U.S. “trade war.” He voiced support for the World Trade Organization and “multilateralism.” The CCP has used the ideology of liberal trade and its easy access to multilateral forms of international governance to exponentially increase its global influence since the West’s diplomatic opening to China in the early 1970s.

The regime in Beijing also seeks to influence the “subnational” level. In March, Huawei partnered with the city council of Barcelona, Spain, according to the company’s social media. “The Barcelona City Council has partnered with #Huawei to drive ICT [information and communications technology] innovation and training,” Huawei Europe posted on social media platform X. The collaboration will “boost smart city projects and digital skills development via the Huawei Spain Academy and Barcelona Activa’s IT Academy.”

From the subnational to the federal levels, CCP-linked organizations are energetically influencing European and broader international politics. At least as much energy should be put into resisting legal and illegal forms of CCP infiltration. The European raids against Huawei lobbyists on March 13 were a good start. But much more remains to be done.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.