A Huawei logo is pictured at the headquarters of the Chinese telecommunications equipment and smartphone maker in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, March 6, 2019. /VCG
China's Commerce Ministry said on Thursday that China firmly opposes the U.S. decision to once again escalate its suppression of Huawei and will take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights of Chinese enterprises.
According to the ministry, the U.S. has used state power under the generalization of the "national security" to continuously abuse export control measures and suppress specific enterprises in other countries
"This is a serious breach of free trade rules and a serious threat to the security of the global industrial supply chain, seriously damaging the welfare and interests of the people of all countries, including the United States," the ministry said on its official website.
The U.S. should immediately stop its wrongdoing. China will take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, it said.
Three months from the November 2020 presidential election, the Trump administration has doubled down on its sanctions against Huawei, further limiting its access to commercially available chips.
The new sanctions, issued by the U.S. Commerce Department, expanded restrictions on Huawei's access to chips made by foreign firms using U.S. software or technology. The Trump administration also added 38 Huawei affiliates in 21 countries to the U.S. government's economic blacklist, raising the total to 152 affiliates since Huawei was first added in May 2019.
The U.S. Commerce Department said in a statement that the measures will further restrict Huawei's access to foreign chips, as long as the chips are developed or produced using U.S. software and technology.
China's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday firmly opposed what it described as the deliberate smear and suppression of Chinese companies on the part of the U.S., noting that the U.S. have been imposing restrictions without any hard evidence against companies like Huawei.
"What the U.S. has done violated international trade rules, undermined global industrial chains, and will inevitably undermine its own interests," said Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry.