"We urge the U.S. to stop purposeful slandering and look at China's policy in an objective way," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told Reuters at a daily briefing on Thursday when asked about China's response toward a new export restriction on advanced high-tech products from the U.S.
According to Reuters, the Trump administration is tightening the rules to prevent China from obtaining advanced U.S. technology for commercial purposes and then diverting it to military use.
Senior U.S. officials agreed on three measures in a meeting last Wednesday, but nothing was finalized. The measures would create hurdles that could be used to stop Chinese companies from buying certain optical materials, radar equipment and semiconductors, among other things, from the United States.
"It's very common to turn commercial technology innovations into military applications, and the other way round. Many countries around the world, including the United States, are taking it as an attempt to promote both technology and military development," Hua said.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, nearly 49 million U.S. dollars has been awarded to 172 domestic university researchers under the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP), to support the purchasing of major research equipment to augment the current capacity and develop new capabilities. These grants will benefit 91 institutions across 40 states in 2020.
Through DURIP, the department said universities and research institutes would have the ability to perform cutting-edge research that boosts the United States' technological edge while ensuring that its future science, technology, engineering and math workforce remains second to none.
But the U.S. officials ignored the facts and misinterpreted China's 'civil-military integration' policy and took it as an excuse to restrict technology export to China, China's Foreign Ministry said, noting that the move will further hinder the cooperation between China, U.S. companies and other countries.
It was not clear if President Donald Trump would sign off on them, despite the decision last week to press ahead with their roll-out.
The industry fears the new rules, which include withdrawing license exceptions, could drive Chinese consumers into the arms of foreign rivals.
"There's a chilling effect when they start taking away the availability of these license exceptions for particular exports," said Washington trade lawyer Eric McClafferty. "It makes people more nervous to export to China."
The White House and the Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment.
(With input from Reuters)