Chinese envoy urges US to clarify national security boundaries at global forum

China's ambassador to the US has called for clearly defined national security boundaries to allow economic, trade and technological cooperation to return to common sense and rationality.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 56th Global Business Forum of the World Trade Centers Association in Philadelphia, Xie Feng said safeguarding national security is legitimate but should not be overstretched or misused to target Chinese exports.

"Even now, we still cannot figure out why Chinese EVs have been singled out and accused to be 'data collectors on wheels;' where the so-called 'spy equipment' is installed in Chinese cranes; and how Chinese garlic could ever possibly be classified as a national security threat," the ambassador said.

Such overblown suspicions, he said, lack factual basis and risk undermining global industrial and supply chain stability as well as innovation, ultimately harming all sides.

Xie added that the concept of national security should be applied with proper limits, with fewer unfounded allegations and more decisions based on market rules and commercial logic, in order to unlock the full potential of China-US cooperation.