China vows protective measures against new US sanctions

Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a regular news briefing on Tuesday that Washington should correct its wrong ways.

He made the remarks when he was asked about the US blacklisting of the Chinese companies.

The US on Monday added the 28 Chinese entities, including some of the country’s top artificial intelligence startups, to its trade blacklist in response to alleged repression of Muslim minorities.

The move ratcheted up tensions ahead of high-level trade talks aimed to resolve the two nations’ 15-month trade war.

Top-level US-China trade talks are scheduled to resume next Thursday and Friday, when US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in Washington.

The administration of President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on more than $360 billion of Chinese goods. Trump has also labeled China a “currency manipulator,” adding fuel to the economic conflict. China has retaliated by hitting most of what the US exports to the Asian country.

The US-China trade war has increased the specter of a global recession.

The Chinese companies recently added to the “entity list” include video surveillance firm Hikvision, as well as leaders in facial recognition technology SenseTime Group Ltd and Megvii Technology Ltd.

The Chinese companies denied the US allegations of being involved in rights violations. A Hikvision spokesman said the firm “strongly opposes” the decision and added that in January, it retained a human rights expert and a former US ambassador to advise the company on human rights compliance.

“Punishing Hikvision, despite these engagements, will deter global companies from communicating with the US government, hurt Hikvision’s US businesses partners and negatively impact the US economy,” the firm said.