Beijing, June 22: China on Monday announced sanctions on 10 American military-related companies in response to a recent US move that bars some leading Chinese tech companies from defense contracts.
The Commerce Ministry said that Chinese companies would be blocked from exporting “dual-use” items to the 10 companies, which include military drone makers and some involved in rare earth mining. Dual use refers to goods that can have military as well as non-military applications.
The ministry said the export ban was both to safeguard China’s national security and in response to what it called the US government’s “wrongful expansion of its so-called List of Chinese Military Companies”.
Separately, the Finance Ministry said that government entities would be prohibited from buying products from 46 American companies including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Missiles & Defence, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Earlier this month, the US Defence Department added several tech companies including Alibaba and Baidu to its list of firms that it says have links to the Chinese military. Baidu said the suggestion that it is a military company is “totally baseless”. The designation prevents them from getting US military contracts. (AP)
