Chinese authorities expressed strong disapproval Saturday regarding the Pentagon’s decision to designate several major Chinese corporations as military-linked entities, claiming the action contradicts agreements made during recent high-level diplomatic meetings between the two nations’ leaders.
Earlier this week, the Defense Department included multiple privately-owned Chinese corporations on its military company registry, among them automotive manufacturer BYD and technology corporations Alibaba and Baidu. This designation aims to identify Chinese businesses believed to maintain connections with China’s armed forces, which bars these companies from securing contracts with the U.S. military.
According to a statement released Saturday by a representative from China’s Ministry of Commerce, the inclusion of these companies on the list means “the U.S. side has ignored the consensus reached during the meeting between the heads of state of the two countries in Beijing.”
The ministry representative further stated that America has “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.”
The affected companies BYD, Alibaba and Baidu previously stated there’s no basis to include them in the list.
The Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump held a highly anticipated meeting in Beijing during mid-May. During their discussions, both leaders committed to strengthening economic cooperation between their nations, with agreements including increased Chinese purchases of American farm goods and Boeing aircraft, plus the establishment of separate trade and investment committees.
