China Announced a Response to Taiwan Trade Blocks

China condemned a move by Taiwan to expand trade restrictions to cover Huawei and its largest chipmaker, SMIC. The Chinese government announced it plans to take strong action against what it called technological blockades.

Taiwan Affairs Office representative Zhu Fenglian said in a regular briefing that China would take effective measures to maintain the normal order of cross-strait economic and trade exchanges and safeguard the interests of companies on both sides. She, however, did not provide details on how China would respond.

Zhu argued that any actions by Taiwan authorities to undermine cross-strait economic cooperation would only damage the competitiveness of Taiwanese enterprises. She added that the latest restrictions could not stop the pace of scientific and technological innovation in mainland China.

Taiwan’s International Trade Administration put Huawei, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, and several of their subsidiaries on its strategic high-tech commodities entity list earlier this month, blocking access to domestic factory construction technologies, along with materials and equipment used to build advanced chips. The US and other allies are also taking stronger measures to block Chinese companies access to advanced chipmaking equipment and AI chips.