By Gabby Chen

(JW Insights) Jun 15 -- China called on the US to promptly correct its wrongdoing and cease its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies, a China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) spokesperson said on June 14, commenting on the recent expansion of its "entity list."

The US added 43 entities on June 12, including 31 entities from China, to an export control list that bars them from accessing US technologies and components, the latest US move to crack down on China's efforts in developing and modernizing its technology, said a Global Times article on June 13.

China strongly opposes the sanctions imposed by the US on certain Chinese entities under the pretext of alleged military and human rights concerns, said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson criticized the US for indiscriminately citing national security without evidence and misusing export control measures to target foreign entities with state power. These actions were deemed as typical instances of economic coercion and unilateral bullying, causing significant harm to the legitimate rights and interests of companies and endangering the security and stability of the global industrial and supply chains.

The 31 Chinese firms added onto the new blacklist include research institute affiliated with aerospace and defense conglomerate Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), Shanghai Supercomputing Technology Co, and Beijing Ryan Wende Science and Technology Co and Xinjiang Kehua Hechang Biological Science and Technology Co, according to the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security website.

The remaining 12 enterprises are from nine countries in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa, said the Global Times report.

Since former US President Donald Trump came to power, Washington has added more than 600 Chinese companies and institutions onto its entity list. In October last year, the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security announced an extensive set of regulations that restricted chips made using US tools from being exported to China.

He Weiwen, a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, told the Global Times that the US-initiated decoupling moves, which are now instead being referred to by Washington as efforts to "de-risk," distort markets and efficiency, and will eventually translate to a huge disadvantage for the US, adding to the costs of its companies and consumers.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, also expressed his opposition to the US's latest action at a briefing on Tuesday, demanding the US immediately correct the wrong practice of politicizing, instrumentalizing and weaponizing economic, trade and technological issues under the guise of military and human rights-related issues.

"In order to maintain its hegemony in military science and technology, the US has repeatedly generalized the concept of national security, abused its national power, suppressed Chinese companies, willfully disrupted the international economic and trade order and world trade rules, and seriously endangered the stability of the global industrial and supply chains. It has reached the point of hysteria and unscrupulous methods," Wang said.

China will continue to take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, he added.