(ATF) China has strongly criticized the Trump Administration for its “unprovoked suppression of Chinese companies” and “naked bullying” over its move on Sunday to revoke licences for chip manufacturer Intel and other suppliers so they can no longer sell products to Huawei.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: “China has repeatedly stated its solemn stand on the issue of the US’s unprovoked suppression of Chinese companies. What the US did was a naked bullying act – violated its usual self-proclaimed principles of market economy and fair competition, violated international trade rules, undermined global industrial chains, supply chains, and value chains, and harmed US interests and image.
“We urge the US to immediately revoke this wrong decision and stop the wrongful behaviour of unreasonably suppressing foreign companies. China will continue to take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.”
The spokeswoman noted that the Trump administration, which has just three days left in its term of office, had notified several Huawei suppliers, including computer-chip manufacturer Intel, to say it would revoke licences to sell products to Huawei and that it intends to reject dozens of other applications to supply the Chinese tech giant.
Reuters reported that it had received a notice sent out by the US Semiconductor Industry Association on Sunday saying that the Commerce Department intends to “deny a significant number of license requests for exports to Huawei and a revocation of at least one previously issued licence”.
The association said the actions spanned a “broad range” of products in the sector and noted that companies had been waiting “many months” for licensing decisions, and with less than a week left in the administration, dealing with the denials was a challenge.
The US put Huawei on a Commerce Department “Entity List” in May 2019 that restricted suppliers from selling US goods and technology to the company. But some sales were allowed and others denied while the US cranked up restrictions against the company, including expanding US authority to require licences for sales of semiconductors made abroad with American technology.
Before the latest action, some 150 licences were pending for $120 billion worth of goods and technology, which had been held up because various US agencies could not agree on whether they should be granted, a source said.
‘Scorched earth policy’
Hua Chunying said she also wanted to draw attention to the fact that many media outlets, including those in the United States, noted that the current US government was implementing a “scorched earth policy” and was busy burning every bridge in order to make problems for the incoming administration. “The new US government faces these obstacles. I think everyone sees this very clearly.”
In related news, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement last Friday stating that in response to the recent arrest of more than 50 pro-democracy activists by the Hong Kong police, the State Department imposed sanctions on six officials of China’s central government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in accordance with relevant presidential executive orders.
Hua Chunying said these moves blatantly intervened in Hong Kong affairs.
[They] “grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs and China’s judicial sovereignty, and seriously violated international law and the basic norms of international relations. China firmly opposes this and strongly condemns it,” she said.
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