Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday has urged the US to immediately correct its wrong practices and lift illegal unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction on Chinese companies, as several Chinese tech companies including gaming and social media leader Tencent and battery maker CATL were added to a list of firms allegedly working with China's military.

China has always firmly opposed US' generalization of the concept of national security, the creation of discriminatory lists of various categories, the unreasonably suppression of Chinese enterprises, and the curbing of China's high-quality development, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun at the routine press conference. 

Several Chinese companies on Tuesday refuted the inclusion on a blacklist issued by the US Department of Defense over allegations of aiding Chinese military, with companies such as Tencent, CATL and Quectel Wireless Solutions stating that the move is "a mistake."

According to a document published by the US Department of Defense, it added several Chinese tech giants, such as Tencent Holdings, leading battery maker CATL, artificial intelligence software company SenseTime and CloudWalk Technology, as well as IoT solutions provider Quectel Wireless Solutions, among a number of other Chinese companies, to its "Section 1260H" list of firms allegedly linked to China's military.

"Tencent's inclusion on this list is clearly a mistake. We are not a military company or supplier. Unlike sanctions or export controls, this listing has no impact on our business. We will nonetheless work with the Department of Defense to address any misunderstanding," Tencent said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

"This decision by the US Department of Defense has no factual basis, and we firmly disagree with it," SenseTime spokesperson told the Global Times on Tuesday.

This decision has no material impact on our global operations. We remain firmly committed to working collaboratively with the relevant stakeholders to address this matter, and to safeguarding the interests of the company and our shareholders, SenseTime said. 

We firmly deny the relevant accusations and express our strong dissatisfaction, CloudWalk Technology Co said on its Wechat Account on Tuesday.

The US government made this decision without sufficient communication and without necessary transparency and fair procedures, which has created unnecessary uncertainty in the international business environment, the company said. 

This list is based on groundless speculation rather than concrete evidence and has no substantial impact on our business, the company added. 

"Being listed on the Section 1260H list is clearly a mistake," Quectel Wireless Solutions said via its Wechat account on Tuesday. 

The company emphasized that its business is focused on civilian applications and that it is neither a military enterprise nor a supplier to military enterprises. 

The company is taking the matter seriously and responding proactively, adding that the list has no impact on the company's business.

The company stated that it will assemble a professional team to engage in detailed discussions with relevant US departments to clarify the situation and address any misunderstandings. 

CATL has never engaged in any military-related business or activities, so this designation by the Department of Defense is a mistake, the company told the Global Times.
 
It does not restrict CATL from conducting business with entities other than US Department of Defense and is expected to have no substantially adverse impact on our business. We will proactively engage with US Department of Defense to address the false designation, including legal action if necessary, to protect the interests of our company and shareholders as a whole, the company said.

The "Section 1260H" list is intended to create the impression that these companies pose a threat to US security, but it is rooted in the exaggerated 'China threat' narrative, Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Addressing concern by some companies that the US government made this decision without sufficient communication and without necessary transparency and fair procedures, Zhou said that this sudden and poorly researched measure undermines the credibility of the list, and it disrupts market order and significantly impacts the normal operations of businesses and the broader market. 

On January 6, 2025 (local US time), the Us Department of Defense included several Chinese companies in its designation of its list of "Chinese Military Companies" in accordance with the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021. Entities that qualify as "Chinese military companies" are restricted from serving as suppliers to the US Department of Defense.

Under the pretext of safeguarding national security, various US government agencies have created lists targeting Chinese companies they deem problematic, Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the US is using security as a tool to discriminate against Chinese firms. 

Gao criticized the move, stating that the lack of compelling evidence to support these accusations undermines the credibility of such actions, especially for a country that prides itself on the rule of law and evidence-based practices. "This inconsistency calls into question the legitimacy of the list," Gao said.

The US Department of Defense removed Chinese firm Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc. China (AMEC) from its so-called Chinese Military Company (CMC) list, after the company sued the department over the designation, Bloomberg reported on December 18 of 2024.

In January 2024, the US Department of Defense added the Chinese firm to its  so-called Chinese Military Company (CMC) list, while, after "extensive efforts to engage with the US Department of Defense in order to clarify the facts and demonstrate that it does not meet any of the CMC criteria" failed to change the designation, AMEC announced on August 16 that it had formally filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Defense in the US District Court for the District of Columbia for "unlawfully" designating AMEC as a CMC, the company said in a statement at the time.