This archive report was first published on 16 May 2020.
On May 16, 2020, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the US to stop its 'unreasonable suppression' of Huawei, a Chinese technology giant at the center of a long-simmering trade war.
US officials have repeatedly accused Huawei of stealing American trade secrets and aiding China's espionage efforts. In response, the US has imposed new export controls to restrict Huawei's access to semiconductor technology.
The latest restrictions, announced by the US Commerce Department, will cut off Huawei's access to one of its major suppliers, the Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC. This move is a new escalation in the US-China battle for global technological dominance.
China has threatened retaliation against the US for the move, including imposing restrictions on major US firms and putting them on an 'unreliable entity list'. US tech giants Apple, Cisco, Qualcomm, and Boeing are among the firms that may be targeted.
US-China relations are again on the rocks, with Washington and Beijing trading barbs over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. China has also threatened retaliatory measures against the US for restricting the visa stay limits of Chinese journalists and for several lawsuits filed by US lawmakers against China for the pandemic.
