China US

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), China's largest automotive lithium-ion battery maker, on Thursday refuted baseless accusations by some US politicians, noting its batteries pose no threat to US national security.

The accusations by the US politicians will harm normal China-US economic and trade cooperation and the well-being of ordinary American users, observers said. They called for the US to strengthen cooperation with China, which will only bring benefits to the US.

Two top US Republican lawmakers, namely Marco Rubio, the vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, and John Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on China, on Wednesday called on the US Defense Department to add Chinese battery maker CATL to a restricted list of companies, claiming that "reliance on CATL batteries endangers US national security," Reuters reported.

"CATL's battery products pose no more of a threat to national security than a brick," the company said.

CATL's battery products have helped millions of American families and small businesses during power outages caused by natural disasters, extreme weather, and grid instability. Battery products that CATL sell in the US market are passive products - without any communications hardware or software that allows for remote access or control, it said. 

CATL said it is not directly competing with any US companies. By working closely with American partners, CATL is assisting US companies with strengthening their competitiveness to turn out reliable and competitively priced products.

CATL is not engaged in any military-related activities, the company said, stressing that it was privately founded and became a publicly-listed company in 2018.

"Out of their Cold War mentality, a number of US politicians tend to play up the narrative of 'national security' threat to crack down on Chinese high-tech companies," He Weiwen, senior fellow from the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times on Thursday.

He said the groundless US accusations will harm normal China-US economic and trade cooperation, and negatively impact the well-being of ordinary Americans.

Instead of continuing to expand its "small yard, high fence" approach, the US should sit down with China to seek practical cooperation, which will bring sufficient benefits for the US side, He said.