China blasts Trump admin for imposing new sanctions on Chinese firms

Beijing, Jan 16 A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman rebuked the Trump administration for blacklisting some Chinese companies with alleged military ties, which he said has shown the world exactly what bullying is.

Spokesman Zhao Lijian told a press briefing on Friday that China firmly opposed the United States' repeated sanctions against Chinese firms, adding that the move went against the trend of the times and the United States' much-touted principles of market competition and international economic trade rules, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said the US move has interfered with the normal economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, and undermined the confidence of foreign companies in investing and operating in the United States, which will eventually harm the interests of US companies and investors.

Citing the fact that many large US multinational companies are the result of military-civil fusion, Zhao said the Trump administration has once again shown the world what unilateralism, double standards and bullying are.

"China will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and resolutely support Chinese enterprises in safeguarding their rights and interests in accordance with the law," Zhao said.

( With inputs from IANS )