ZTE CORP., the Chinese company which won the $329 million supply contract for the overpriced national broadband network, yesterday threatened to file charges against those who have accused it of engaging in bribery and corruption.

ZTE, in a statement, also said its officials summoned by the Senate will not appear at the ongoing inquiry into the contract. "ZTE cannot allow itself to be dragged into any political circus," it said.

ZTE also said the controversy will bring negative influence on economic cooperation between China and the Philippines.

The statement, issued by Howard Xue, was the first time ZTE has spoken out on the contract which President Arroyo cancelled after the bribery allegations broke out.

Higher Education chair Romulo Neri told the Senate hearing last year that then Elections chair Benjamin Abalos offered him a P200 million bribe for the National Economic and Development Authority to approve the conversion of the NBN project, originally proposed as a build-operate-transfer deal, into a government-to-government undertaking.

Jose "Joey" de Venecia III, the original BOT proponent, said the project cost was bloated to $329 million to accommodate the bribes to officials.

Rodolfo Lozada, in his testimony last Monday, said Abalos was promised a $130 million commission, of which an undetermined amount had been paid.

"By simply looking at the comprehensive, itemized and priced bill of deliverables contained in ZTE’s NBN bid, accusations that the project proposal was overpriced would crumble to pieces," ZTE said.

"An independent and unbiased panel would see that the proposal for what it is: A multi-million-dollar deal showing ZTE’s state of the art technologies backed by hundreds of international patents; a project that would have been made available to the Philippines through a government-to-government loan facility with a low interest rate of 3 percent and a drawn out repayment period of 20 years, marked by a grace period of 5 years," ZTE said.

In warning of negative effects on RP-Chinese relations, ZTE said: "Almost every project undertaken by Chinese companies has been put into inequitable suspicion, including agriculture, tele-education, power plants, and elevated highways. It will play down not only the confidence of companies from China but also those from other countries."