China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) has slammed the US for a "fundamental misunderstanding" about its operations after the latter added the company to a blacklist of firms with alleged ties to the Chinese military.
“The company reiterates that it is an international enterprise operating independently with stakeholders such as investors and customers all over the world,” it said, adding the move “reflects a fundamental misunderstanding by the United States Department of Defence regarding the end-uses of the company’s business and technology”.
SMIC would continue to discuss the issue with US authorities, it concluded.
The news comes amid a wave of trade restrictions from the Trump administration, which blacklisted SMIC along with China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), bringing the total number of firms with alleged ties to the Chinese military to 35.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying sharply criticised Washington for "abusing the concept of national security", adding the measures would critically damage US interests, according to reports.
Beijing and numerous Chinese tech firms, including Huawei Technologies, ZTE, SMIC, TikTok owner ByteDance and WeChat owner Tencent, have repeatedly denied such firms posed national security risks or spied for the Chinese government.