Q: Today, MOFCOM and other relevant departments announced countermeasures against series of negative measures targeting China taken by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. What is the consideration behind this?

A: Since the Busan meeting between the Chinese and U.S. presidents, the U.S. FCC, in disregard of China’s strong opposition and the strong calls of the business communities of both countries, has kept overstretching the concept of national security and repeatedly introduced restrictive measures targeting China. These measures cover multiple areas, including telecommunications operations, testing laboratories, drones, consumer-grade routers, and submarine cables. Recently, it has also imposed import restrictions on advanced robotics equipment and power inverters.

In particular, the U.S. side has ignored China’s repeated representations and added over 40 Chinese entities to the so-called “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List” on July 31, immediately following the video call between the Chinese and U.S. economic and trade lead persons on July 30. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this.

The relevant measures taken by the U.S. FCC and the addition of relevant entities to the so-called UFLPA Entity List by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security constitute a serious violation of the important consensus reached by the Chinese and U.S. heads of state and severely undermine China’s legitimate rights and interests. China has no choice but to take necessary countermeasures in response, including: strengthening export controls on drones and key drone components and technologies on the U.S.; suspending follow-up factory inspections carried out U.S.-based certification bodies commissioned by designated certification bodies for China Compulsory Certification; placing Compliance Testing LLC on the List of Targets of Countermeasures; launching a foreign trade national security investigation into imported office equipment with printing and copying functions; and placing another six U.S. entities on the List of Targets of Countermeasures.

I would like to emphasize that China’s countermeasures are restrained in general. China values the hard-won stability of China-U.S. economic and trade relations. It is hoped that the U.S. will move with China in the same direction. China demands that the U.S. immediately revoke the relevant measures, stop its wrongful practices, return to the right track of resolving differences through friendly consultation and cooperation, and work together with China to uphold a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability. If the U.S. side insists on introducing new restrictive measures against China, China will take further countermeasures. (Released on August 5)