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The US Commerce Department announced it’s blacklisting more than 60 other Chinese companies including the country’s top chip maker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. “to protect US national security.”
“This action stems from China’s military-civil fusion doctrine and evidence of activities between SMIC and entities of concern in the Chinese military industrial complex,” the Commerce Department said in a statement.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross confirmed the move in a Friday morning interview with Fox Business. It was reported first by Reuters overnight. Shares in China’s top chipmaker slid 5.2 per cent on Friday in Hong Kong on the news.
Other affected Chinese entities include those “that enable human rights abuses, entities that supported the militarization and unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea, entities that acquired U.S.-origin items in support of the People’s Liberation Army’s programs, and entities and persons that engaged in the theft of U.S. trade secrets,” according to the US government statement.
The majority of the newly banned companies are Chinese and will join the likes of Huawei Technologies Co. on a list that denies them access to US technology from software to circuitry.
“If the report you mentioned is correct, it will be another example of how the US is using its national power to crack down on Chinese companies,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Friday after Reuters report but before US government’s official announcement. “We urge the US to stop its wrongful activities cracking down on foreign companies.”