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News ID: 70390
Publish Date : 13 September 2019 - 22:06

U.S. Lawmakers to Target China Firms Linked to Military

WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- A
bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers
has called on the Pentagon to compile and release an updated list of
companies with ties to the Chinese
military, operating in the United
States.
The group wrote a letter to Pentagon
chief Mark Esper on Thursday, asking
for the release of an updated list "as
soon as possible” to "combat China’s
economic espionage in the United
States.”
Companies owned by Beijing "acquire American firms to transfer proprietary information,” among other
tactics, read the letter.
A Chinese embassy spokesperson
called the accusations an example of a
"cold-war mentality,” saying Beijing’s
strategy aims to integrate the defense
and economic sectors.
Back in August, the U.S. blacklisted
a major Chinese nuclear power company, a partner for the UK’s power
generation program, over accusations
of stealing U.S. technology for military use.
As a result, China General Nuclear
Power Group (CGN) and three of its
subsidiaries were placed on the commerce department’s "entity list.”
The U.S. has also put Chinese telecoms company Huawei on the same
list since May, even as it has failed to
provide any evidence to support espionage allegations.
The push by U.S. lawmakers comes
after reports that Beijing and Washington are trying to calm tensions before
a new round of talks on tariffs next
month.
On Thursday, President Donald
Trump postponed the imposition of
new tariffs on Chinese products "as a
gesture of good will.”
His administration has so far imposed duties on hundreds of billions of
dollars worth of Chinese goods.
China has met every single round of
U.S. tariffs with retaliatory measures
of its own, but its countermeasures
have been milder.
To counter U.S. actions of trade protectionism, Beijing in recent years has
been trying to get more international
entities to use its currency, the yuan,
outside China.
China’s central bank announced last
month that it was close to launching
a digital version of its currency in a
move to "protect” its foreign exchange
sovereignty.
The proposed digital currency, according to the CEO of American
cryptocurrency financial services firm
Circle, could trigger global use of the
yuan.
"This becomes a mechanism by
which (the yuan) can be used in everyday transactions all around the world,”
said Jeremy Allaire.