US claws at China's chip industry fanning flames on tech confrontation. Cartoon: Carlos Latuff

China's Foreign Ministry on Monday slammed the US' planned new restrictions on chip exports to China, which are reported to be unveiled as early as this week, and vowed to take resolute measures to firmly defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies.

Reuters reported on Friday that the Biden administration is set to unveil new export restrictions on China as soon as next week, citing an email from the US Chamber of Commerce, suggesting that the new restrictions could be revealed as early as this week. 

The new regulations could add up to 200 Chinese chip companies to a trade restriction list that bars most US suppliers from shipping goods to the targeted firms. The US Department of Commerce plans to publish the new restrictions "prior to the Thanksgiving break," which falls on Thursday, according to Reuters, citing the email.

Asked about the reported move at a regular press briefing on Monday, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said that China is firmly opposed to the US overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export control measures and making malicious attempts to block and suppress China.

"China will take resolute measures to firmly defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies," Mao said, noting that the US' moves seriously violate the laws of the market economy and the principles of fair competition, disrupt international economic and trade order and the stability of global industrial and supply chains, and will eventually harm the interests of all countries. 

"These new sanctions demonstrate the clear stubbornness and hypocrisy of some US politicians," Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Monday, noting that some US politicians constantly resort to repeatedly debunked claims to crack down on Chinese firms. 

Li further pointed out that the US crackdown measures, while targeting Chinese firms, could also inflict harm on the US' own industries. "On the surface, this kind of trade bullying affects Chinese companies and Chinese industries. In fact, it is a self-defeating act, which may harm the US even more," he said. "It's like cutting off its nose to spite its face."

In addition to the reported new chip restrictions, the US administration has also announced more crackdown measures against Chinese businesses. On Friday, it announced a ban on imports from 29 more Chinese companies over alleged "forced labor" claims targeting Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The measures were set to take effect on Monday.

Liu Weidong, a research fellow at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the "forced labor" claim is manufactured by some US politicians to create a pretext for the US to crack down on Chinese businesses, which have gained a clear competitive edge in the global market. 

"Under the guise of 'human rights,' the US is actually trying to exclude Chinese companies from competing in the global industrial chain," Liu told the Global Times on Monday, adding that the move is politically motivated and could inflict a negative impact on global economic stability as well as on the US' own interests.

Moreover, the US' crackdown measures will fail to contain China's development. "As a major trading partner of many countries around the world, China's important position in the global industrial chain makes it difficult for the US to fully realize its strategy of excluding China," Liu noted. 

Further underscoring China's critical role in the global supply and industrial chains, the number of US companies topped the list of foreign companies attending the 2nd China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE), scheduled to take place from November 26 to 30 in Beijing.

Attending the CISCE, Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is on his third business trip to China this year, highlighted the critical role of Chinese partners for Apple, saying that the company "could not do what it does without them."