The Ministry of Commerce of China File photo: VCG

China's countermeasures against the negative measures taken by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are generally restrained, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Wednesday, after China announced a slew of countermeasures.

The spokesperson urged the US side to immediately revoke the relevant measures, stop its wrongdoings, and return to the correct track of resolving differences through friendly consultation and cooperation and work together to maintain a constructive bilateral relationship of strategic stability.

"If the US insists on introducing new restrictive measures against China, China will take further countermeasures," the spokesperson stated.

The remarks were made responding to a media inquiry over China's considerations regarding countermeasures announced by the MOFCOM and other relevant departments against a series of negative US measures targeting China taken by the US FCC and the US DHS.

China's countermeasures include strengthening export controls on dual-use items related to UAVs and their key components and technologies to the US; suspending factory follow-up inspections entrusted to US certification bodies by China Compulsory Certification designated bodies; placing US compliance testing companies on the countermeasure list; initiating a national security investigation into the import of printing and copying office equipment; and placing six US entities on the countermeasure list.

The MOFCOM spokesperson pointed out that since the Busan meeting between the Chinese and US leaders, the US FCC, despite China's strong opposition and the strong calls from the business communities of both countries, has continued to overstretch the concept of national security and has repeatedly introduced restrictive measures against China, covering areas such as telecommunications operations, testing laboratories, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), consumer-grade routers, and submarine cables. Recently, it has also imposed import restrictions on advanced robotics equipment and power inverters, the spokesperson noted.

In particular, the US side, ignoring China's repeated representations, added more than 40 Chinese entities to the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" Entity List on July 31, immediately after the video call between the lead persons for China-US economic and trade affairs on July 30. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this, the spokesperson said.

The measures taken by the US FCC and the US DHS's inclusion of relevant entities on the so-called Entity List seriously violated the important consensus reached between the two heads of state and seriously undermined China's legitimate rights and interests. China has no choice but to take necessary countermeasures in response, said the spokesperson.

Global Times