China has condemned the United States’ decision to blacklist several major Chinese companies, including Alibaba and Baidu, after Washington accused them of supporting China’s military.
Speaking on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Beijing “firmly opposed” the move and urged the US government to reverse what it described as unfair treatment of Chinese firms. “China has consistently and firmly opposed the United States’ generalisation of the concept of national security, and its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies,” Lin told a news briefing.
He called on Washington to “correct its erroneous practices”. The reaction came after the US Department of Defense added a number of Chinese companies to its list of firms it says are linked to or support the Chinese military.
The updated list was released weeks after US President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing as both countries sought to maintain stability in bilateral relations. Trump has since invited Xi to visit Washington in September. The Pentagon’s revised list largely mirrors a version briefly published in February before it was withdrawn without explanation.
Two Chinese memory chipmakers, ChangXin Memory Technologies and Yangtze Memory Technologies, were restored to the blacklist after being removed from the earlier version. US Representative John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, described the update as a warning to American institutions.
“This updated list of Chinese military companies is a warning to American businesses, all levels of government, and the American people,” he said. Moolenaar urged US companies to “stop doing business with these threats to our national security” or risk “enabling China’s military ascendance”.
Among the companies listed are several of China’s leading technology firms involved in artificial intelligence, including Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent. Baidu rejected the designation, describing the allegations as unfounded.
“We categorically reject the inclusion of Baidu on the list, and there is no credible justification for adding Baidu to the list,” a company spokesperson said. “The suggestion that Baidu is a military company is entirely baseless. We will not hesitate to use all options available to us to have the company removed from the list.” Alibaba also challenged the decision, calling its inclusion an error and indicating it could pursue legal action.
“There is no basis to conclude that Alibaba Group should be placed on the CMC List. Alibaba Group is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy,” the company said in a statement. “We believe this designation is a mistake.”
Other firms added to the list include pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec and robotics startup Unitree, which develops humanoid robots. While the blacklist does not automatically trigger sanctions, analysts say such designations can pave the way for future restrictions and increase scrutiny of affected companies.