Creator: Mahesh Kumar A. | Credit: AP

China strongly criticized the United States on Saturday for placing several major Chinese companies on a Pentagon list of “Chinese military companies” and warned that it would take countermeasures if the decision is not reversed.

In a statement, the Commerce Ministry said the US had unjustifiably expanded the concept of national security and abused state power to suppress Chinese firms, harming bilateral economic and trade relations, News.Az reports, citing Xinhua.

"The US side has ignored the consensus reached during the meeting between the heads of state of the two countries in Beijing, disregarded the overall interests of bilateral economic and trade relations, continuously generalized the concept of national security, and abused state power to unjustifiably suppress Chinese enterprises," a spokesperson for the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry urged Washington to immediately revoke the measures and ensure fair and non-discriminatory treatment.

It warned that China would take "resolute and strong countermeasures" if the restrictions remain in place.

The statement came after the US Defense Department's latest update to its blacklist, which now includes some of China's largest technology and manufacturing firms, including Alibaba, Baidu, electric vehicle maker BYD, and NIO, as well as leading solar panel manufacturers Trina Solar and JA Solar Technology.

China's Foreign Ministry has also earlier condemned a US decision, calling the move discriminatory and harmful to bilateral economic relations.

The designation does not impose immediate sanctions but bars the Pentagon from procuring goods and services from listed entities and could expose them to greater regulatory scrutiny.

Several of the affected companies have rejected the allegations, describing the designation as baseless and vowing to pursue legal remedies.

The Pentagon’s move marks the latest escalation in technology and security-related tensions between Washington and Beijing amid broader strategic competition between the world’s two largest economies.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli