The Ministry of Commerce expressed strong opposition on Friday to the US Federal Communications Commission’s proposed restrictive measures against Chinese entities, urging the United States to stop its wrongful practices and respect market rules.
On Thursday, the FCC voted to advance measures that would disqualify testing and certification bodies from countries without mutual recognition agreements with the US and prohibit entities on the so-called “covered list” from conducting telecommunications business in the US.
In response, a spokesperson for the Commerce Ministry said the FCC “has abandoned the principle of technological neutrality” and “overstretched the concept of national security”.
Without factual basis, the US has frequently introduced restrictive measures that discriminate against enterprises and products from other countries, including China, severely damaging the interests of China and other relevant trading partners, the ministry said.
These measures undermine the hard-won stability of Sino-US economic and trade relations and run counter to the consensus reached by the two heads of state, the spokesperson added.
The FCC is currently seeking public comments on its proposed restrictions.
The ministry warned that if implemented, these measures would severely disrupt the international economic and trade order, destabilize global industrial and supply chains in the communications and electronics sectors, and impact global industrial cooperation and technological innovation.
Such actions would also harm the interests of US industries and consumers, affecting the security of the US’ own supply chain, it said.
China urges the US to heed the voices of the industry and revoke the relevant measures, the spokesperson said, adding that the nation will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises if the US insists on having its way.
According to a Reuters report, the FCC’s unanimous vote advanced a proposal to bar all Chinese labs from testing electronic devices for use in the US, despite the agency noting that about 75 percent of all electronic goods made for use in the US are tested in China.
In a separate vote, the commission advanced a proposal to bar China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom from operating data centers in the US. It is also considering prohibiting telecom carriers from interconnecting with companies on the national security list, including Huawei and ZTE.
This move follows the passage of the Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware Act and other export control measures by the US House Foreign Affairs Committee on April 22.
A spokesperson for the Commerce Ministry previously reiterated China’s long-standing opposition to the US’ overuse of national security concepts and its abuse of export control measures to suppress China.
