FedEx seeks to defuse its latest delivery mishap in China, this time involving a firearm, saying it notified police two months ago

FedEx Corporation, under pressure in China over its diversions of packages from Huawei Technologies, is seeking to defuse a delivery mishap involving a firearm, as it seeks to protect its market position amid rising tension in the US-China trade war.

In the latest case, a United States client sent a handgun via FedEx to a sports good company in the Fujian provincial capital of Fuzhou, Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday. The firearm never made it to the sporting goods company and was seized by local police, who are investigating the incident.

“We notified the [Chinese] authorities about this [handgun] shipment on June 14,” a FedEx spokeswoman said in a Monday statement, without divulging the names of the consignor, the recipient or a description of the firearm. “We take this matter seriously, and will continue to fully cooperate.”

The episode comes as FedEx, operating in China since 1995, is under increasing pressure to be put on the Chinese government’s list of “unreliable foreign entities” as its policies and actions were deemed as being hostile to China’s national interests. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce, responsible for compiling the list, has said it is still in the process of preparation and declined to comment on specifics, even as Chinese state media published commentary calling for FedEx to be put on the list.

On Sunday, Fuzhou Public Security Bureau’s publicity department confirmed the authenticity of a report by state news agency Xinhua of a firearm being seized from a FedEx shipment, but declined to provide further details, including the name of the sporting goods company.