Photo: GT

China is ready to take a series of countermeasures against a US plan to block shipments of semiconductors to Chinese telecom firm Huawei, including putting US companies on an "unreliable entity list," launching investigations and imposing restrictions on US companies such as Apple and suspending the purchase of Boeing airplanes, a source close to the Chinese government told the Global Times.

The Trump administration on Friday moved to block shipments of semiconductors to Huawei from global chipmakers. The US Commerce Department said it was amending an export rule and the Entity List to "strategically target Huawei's acquisition of semiconductors that are the direct product of certain US software and technology," according to a statement on its website.

"China will take forceful countermeasures to protect its own legitimate rights," if the US moves forward with the plan to bar essential suppliers of chips, including Taiwan-based TSMC, from selling chips to the Chinese tech giant, the source told the Global Times in an exclusive interview.

The measures include adding related US companies to China's "unreliable entity list," imposing restrictions on or launching investigations into US companies like Qualcomm, Cisco and Apple according to Chinese laws and regulations like Cybersecurity Review Measures and Anti-monopoly Law, and suspending airplane purchases from Boeing, said the source.

 

Huawei Photo:IC
 

The US companies mentioned including Apple, Qualcomm, Cisco and Boeing are all highly dependent on the Chinese market.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced last May that China will release its own list targeting foreign entities that seriously undermine the legitimate interests of Chinese companies.

The unreliable entity list will include foreign organizations, individuals and companies that block or shut supply chains, or take discriminatory measures for non-commercial reasons, and when their actions endanger the business of Chinese companies as well as global consumers and companies, MOFCOM spokesperson Gao Feng told a press conference in 2019.

The list will also include foreign entities that cause actual or potential damage to Chinese companies and industries. Endangering or potentially endangering China's national security is also a cause for inclusion on the list, according to Zhi Luxun, head of the Bureau of Industry, Security, Import and Export Control at MOFCOM on June 1, 2019.

Once a company is listed, it will face necessary legal and administrative measures and the Chinese public will also be warned against dealing with it to reduce risks, Zhi said.