Chinese Silent on Requiring US Companies to Disclose Military Links

China declined comment Tuesday on media reports it may require U.S. companies doing business in China to disclose links to the U.S. military, in retaliation for Trump administration sanctions against Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. for their allegedly close ties to the Chinese military (see 2012180026). China firmly opposes the administration’s “malicious slanders” and “suppression” of Chinese companies on national security grounds, said a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Tuesday. The Chinese government “will not sit back when its legitimate interests are trampled upon by the U.S. side so willfully,” she said.