In a new anti-Beijing move, the United States has identified 89 Chinese firms that have ties to the military. These companies will be restricted from buying a variety of US goods and technology and will be identified as "Military end users".
China has been accused by US of stealing high end technology through the work of professionals and university students. With this, China will have to pay for its misdeeds in the past.
If the sanctions become official, it could further raise the tensions between the two countries who have been at loggerheads over multiple issues over the past few months. The move comes ten days after US President Donald Trump unveiled an executive order that prevents US investments in Chinese firms that are owned and controlled by the Chinese military.
The report mentioned that preventing the flow of US technology was extremely important for protecting US interests. Export restrictions might be put on items such as word processing softwares, aircraft components and digital oscilloscopes.
Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd. which has been China's trump card against America's Boeing, is on the list and so is the Aviation Industry Corp. of China Ltd. In June, Trump's administration had put AVIC ltd. on a list of companies that was affiliated to the Chinese military. This latest move by Washington to put pressure on China comes a week after US Securities and Exchange Commission came up with a regulation that those companies that did not comply with US auditing rules will be delisted from US stock exchanges, putting a majority of Chinese companies on red alert.
Though the spokesperson for US Department of Commerce refused to comment, the Chinese Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said that China firmly opposed the unprovoked suppression of Chinese companies by the US. He added that Chinese companies have always operated according to the law of the land.
Political analysts claim this is a blatant lie as Chinese firms have a reputation for malpractice. The Chinese communist government is known to partner Chinese companies with US firms to acquire economic and technological data. In fact, China's business policies are designed in a way that if a new firm enters its market, it has to part with its technology, capital and manufacturing expertise.
In the light of these facts, we can conclude that the move by the US is legitimate, timely and well thought out. Going easy on China has already cost the US a lot. Trump's tough handling of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party is highly commendable.
Trump is sending a message that American will be tough on China.
Lee Chen is the pseudonym of a writer who covers Asia and world politics
