China condemns lie-based US sanctions on Chinese firms

China said on Thursday it would take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese companies, after the US blacklisted five Chinese firms over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

China strongly condemns the US sanctions on Chinese enterprises based on lies and disinformation, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular news briefing.

"The so-called 'forced labor' and 'ethnic genocide' are totally lies of the century," he said.

The US, citing the lies, misused the entity list to suppress the silicon industry, which was not only a breach of norms of international trade and principles of market economy, but also damaged global industrial and supply chains, he added.

Zhao noted that the US tried every means to suppress the development of the Xinjiang industries, which covered cotton and silicon and spanned agriculture to industry, under the guise of the human rights.

The moves jeopardize the rights to life and development of people in Xinjiang, and also exposed the true intentions of the US, he said.

The US is neither concerned about facts and truths, nor does it really care about the Xinjiang people; instead, it intended to make chaos in Xinjiang and contain China's development by producing forced unemployment and poverty, the spokesman added.

"It is the US that commits genocide and pursues forced labor," Zhao reminded the US of its own history.

The US politicians should reflect more on the history of genocide against indigenous peoples of the Americas and the Tulsa race massacre, he said, adding they should think more about how to resolve domestic human rights problems including ethnic conflicts and forced labor.

The spokesman of Ministry of Commerce Gao Feng also expressed on Thursday opposition to the latest move by the US targeting Chinese companies, saying the so-called forced labor in Xinjiang was completely against the facts.

The US once again utilized national power to resort to protectionism and bullying under the pretext of human rights, which severely damaged the international order of economy and trade as well as constituted a serious threat to the security of global industrial and supply chains, he added.

"The US should immediately redress its wrongdoings," he said.