Huawei Photo: Global Times

Finland on Monday approved a bill that could be used to exclude Huawei from its networks, while analysts said that the "flexible" law - without pointing to any specific vendor like its neighbor Sweden - may leave more room for negotiating more interests for its 5G network-maker Nokia in China.

The comments come as Finland's parliament on Monday approved a bill designed to protect its networks against cyber threats and espionage. The legislation names no specific companies or countries, but bans equipment "within the network's key assets if there are strong grounds to suspect the use of such equipment would endanger national security or defense," Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

Analysts described the move as "flexible," since it not only displays its "political attitude" amid sustained US pressure, but also avoids directly targeting China - a key market for domestic telecom firm Nokia, which now holds a smaller share in China's 5G market compared to Swedish counterpart Ericsson.

"We aren't pointing fingers at any one party, we should ensure we don't take action that closes doors for Nokia as a result of any backlash," Johannes Koskinen, a lawmaker from the ruling Social Democratic Party, was quoted as saying in the Bloomberg report.

"As the network plays an increasing role in production activities, the concerns about security are understandable. But obviously linking security to geopolitics as an excuse to exclude specific manufacturers is not only anti-free market, it also harms the rights of local consumers and businesses," Jiang Junmu, Chief Writer at Chinese telecom industry news website c114.com.cn, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"Finland's approach is more flexible, leaving more room for the future repositioning," said Jiang, noting that the Finnish government is alive to opportunities for local firms in the Chinese market.

The Finnish law is "fair and objective," with "a more measured approach focusing on equipment instead of vendors," Huawei's Head of Public Affairs Hennariikka Andersson told the Bloomberg report.

"It's unfortunate that the international network-security debate has focused only on Chinese vendors when we know that vulnerabilities may be found in all manufacturers' equipment," Andersson said.

The latest Finnish move comes as Sweden's telecom regulator, The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS), banned the use of equipment from China's Huawei and ZTE by telecom operators taking part in the 5G auctions in October. Huawei won a court injunction and an appeal by PTS is pending.

Sweden should reverse its ban on Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE from a planned 5G spectrum auction to avoid a "negative impact" on its own companies, said China's foreign ministry in response to the Swedish move.

Sweden's Ericsson, one of Nokia's direct rivals, is building 5G wireless technology for each of China's three major telecom operators and accounts for around 10 percent of sales from the country, according to media reports.

"It's unlikely that the two Nordic countries will totally shut Huawei out of their countries, as 5G construction benefits from the participation of a global telecommunications leader like Huawei," Ma Jihua, a veteran industry analyst and a close Huawei follower, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"It may be more of a political statement rather than a real cut," Ma said.