China says it will monitor impact of US defence act on Chinese firms
- Commerce ministry calls legislation ‘full of political biases’, saying sanctions are ‘evidence of government intervention in normal corporate operations’
- Defence spokesman also hits out, urging Washington to ‘abandon its cold war mentality’ and stop interfering in its domestic affairs
China will keep watch for the impact of a new US defence act on Chinese companies and take all necessary measures to protect their interests, the commerce ministry said on Thursday.
It criticised the National Defence Authorisation Act, signed by US President Donald Trump last week, as being “full of political biases” against Chinese firms, while the defence ministry also hit out at the legislation.
The US$738 billion act includes measures to strengthen Washington’s ties with Taiwan and slow the lifting of sanctions on Chinese tech giant Huawei.
“The clauses restricting the purchase of Chinese products and imposing sanctions on some Chinese firms are evidence of [US] government intervention in normal corporate operations,” commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng told a media briefing in Beijing. “It goes against its advocacy of fair, reciprocal and free trade, undermines the international trade order and endangers the global supply chain,” he said.
It goes against its advocacy of fair, reciprocal and free trade, undermines the international trade order and endangers the global supply chain
The act sets out a number of hurdles the US Commerce Department will need to clear before it can remove Huawei from its entity list of foreign firms that US companies need a special licence to do business with.
In addition to Huawei, which is mentioned explicitly, several other prominent Chinese companies are targeted by the law, generally without being mentioned by name.