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MADRID (EFE Dow Jones)--Huawei Technologies Co.'s top executive in Spain on Wednesday expressed his hope that European authorities will preserve the "openness" of their telecommunications networks and technology, and discussed how the Chinese telecoms giant is responding to the trade restrictions it faces.

Addressing the press after a digital networks conference in Spain, Huawei's Spain CEO Tony Jin Yong said Europe "respects the rules" regardless of the nationality of the companies that want to do business in the region.

The U.S. Commerce Department recently put Huawei on a trade blacklist that threatens to cut if off from the American technology it relies on for its smartphones, then Monday said it would waive the measure for 90 days for some suppliers, including Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOGL) Google. Europe's main mobile telecoms operators are still waiting for the European Union to set its network security standards.

Mr. Jin Yong said the news had a "big impact on the people's mind," and the company is trying to find solutions. However he said "we believe that this incident or these issues will not affect our leadership," adding that Huawei has been developing operating systems for years, so if Google does cut off access to the Android operating system, the company will be able to have its own.

Many of Huawei's clients don't know what is happening because "there are a lot of misunderstanding[s] in the market," Mr. Jin Yong said. "The consumers deserve to have freedom to select the best products."

"As always, we keep talking to the Spanish government because we have here so many jobs, so big a presence, so many connections with universities, industries," he said.

Mr. Jin Yong said he favors healthy competition in the industry and prefers to buy parts in the U.S. and other countries.

This story was translated in whole or in part from a ​Spanish-language version initially published by EFE Dow Jones, a partner of Dow Jones & Co.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 22, 2019 10:41 ET (14:41 GMT)

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