A day after accusing the United States of undermining their trade truce, China has now threatened legal action against anyone who shuns its chips because of a recent advisory notice by Washington.
The advisory issued last week said that the use of Chinese chips, especially the Ascend AI processors made by US-sanctioned Huawei, would amount to a violation of Washington’s export controls.
On Wednesday, Beijing said it would take legal action against any individual or organisation assisting or acting on the US warning.
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In a statement, China’s commerce ministry said the US should abide by international economic and trade rules and respect other countries’ rights to scientific and technological development.
It said the US had “abused export controls to suppress China, which is a violation of international laws and the principles of international relations.”
In a statement, the ministry also said there could be “corresponding legal liabilities” against those involved in implementing the US advisory note, which it said would constitute “discriminatory restrictive measures” against Chinese firms.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the ministry also said it would invoke its anti-sanctions law against any entity involved in implementing those sanctions.
Passed in 2021, the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law says that individuals or entities involved in making or implementing discriminatory measures against Chinese citizens or entities could be put on an anti-sanctions list by a “relevant department” in the Chinese government.
Those on the list may be denied entry into China or be expelled from the country; their assets within China may be seized or frozen; and they could also be restricted from doing business with entities or people within China.
‘Tit-for-tat’
The law also says that any such entity on the list would also be liable to pay compensation to China for the losses it incurs from sanctions.
China implemented the law to resist pressure at the time from the US over trade, technology, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Its friction with the US has only worsened since.
It is the most wide-ranging legal tool Beijing has introduced in recent years to retaliate against foreign sanctions. Experts say it is intended to give Chinese retaliatory measures more legitimacy and predictability.
Speaking to the SCMP, one Beijing-aligned expert said that China’s threat was in line with the nature of the US’s advisory note last week.
“Washington’s sanctions would be imposed globally, Beijing’s must do the same,” he told the SCMP.
This is China’s second statement this week on the issue of the US advisory. On Monday, it said Washington’s advisory had seriously undermined the recent truce the two superpowers had agreed on early this month in their ongoing trade disputes.
- Reuters, with additional editing and inputs from Vishakha Saxena
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