Todd Bishop
The US “New York Times” quoted sources on Saturday (8th) as saying that Beijing government officials last week convened high-level executives from major US companies such as Microsoft, Dell, and Samsung to warn companies if In conjunction with the US President Trump administration’s order to impose a lock-up on key technologies for Chinese companies, or face terrible consequences.
The report quoted sources as saying that the meeting was held last Tuesday (4th) and last Wednesday (5th), and was convened by the National Development and Reform Commission. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology were represented at the meeting. Also included are British semiconductor manufacturer Arm and Korean counterpart SK Hynix.
Informed sources continued, Chinese officials warned the participating companies that if the company withdraws its production line from China for safety reasons, the company may be punished.
Chinese officials also warned that the US companies, which the Trump administration is trying to block Chinese companies from contacting the US, have disrupted the global supply chain and believe that companies should use lobbying to resist Washington’s actions.
As for companies outside the United States, Chinese officials said that as long as the existing relationship is maintained and the normal supply to mainland enterprises is continued, there will be no adverse consequences. The Chinese officials also stressed their commitment to open trade and protect intellectual property rights.
A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment, neither Samsung nor SK Hynix commented on the news.
