The Ministry of Commerce held a press conference on August 5, responding to questions about China's countermeasures against a series of negative China-related actions by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
A spokesperson stated that the measures taken by the FCC and the DHS's inclusion of relevant entities on the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List" severely violate the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and seriously damage China's legitimate rights and interests. As a result, China has no choice but to take necessary countermeasures in response.
The spokesperson emphasized that China's countermeasures are generally restrained. China values the hard-won stability of China-U.S. economic and trade relations. We hope the U.S. side will work with China in the same direction. China demands that the U.S. immediately revoke the relevant measures, stop its wrongdoings, and return to the correct path of resolving differences through friendly consultation and cooperation, to jointly work for a constructive and stable strategic relationship between China and the U.S. If the U.S. insists on introducing new restrictive measures against China, China will take further countermeasures.
The full text is as follows:
Where to begin
Question: Today, the Ministry of Commerce and other relevant departments announced countermeasures against a series of negative China-related actions by the U.S. FCC and DHS. What is the consideration behind this?
Answer: Since the China-U.S. summit in Busan, the U.S. FCC, ignoring China's strong opposition and the strong calls of industries in both countries, has continued to overstretch the concept of national security, repeatedly introducing China-related restrictive measures. These involve multiple areas including telecommunications operations, testing laboratories, drones, consumer routers, and submarine cables. Most recently, it has added restrictions on imports of advanced robotics equipment and power inverters. In particular, despite China's repeated representations, the U.S. side, after the video call between China-U.S. economic and trade leads on July 30, added more than 40 Chinese entities to the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List" on July 31. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this.
Actions taken by the U.S. FCC and the DHS's inclusion of relevant entities on the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List" severely violate the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and seriously damage China's legitimate rights and interests. China can only take necessary countermeasures in response, including: strengthening export controls on drones and their key components and technologies to the U.S.; suspending factory follow-up inspections conducted by designated U.S. certification bodies for China's Compulsory Certification (CCC) agencies; placing U.S. compliance testing companies on a countermeasure list; initiating a national security investigation into foreign trade of imported printing and copying office equipment; and placing six U.S. entities on a countermeasure list.
I want to emphasize that China's countermeasures are generally restrained. China values the hard-won stability of China-U.S. economic and trade relations. We hope the U.S. side will work with China in the same direction. China demands that the U.S. immediately revoke the relevant measures, stop its wrongdoings, and return to the correct path of resolving differences through friendly consultation and cooperation, to jointly work for a constructive and stable strategic relationship between China and the U.S. If the U.S. insists on introducing new restrictive measures against China, China will take further countermeasures.