BEIJING – China on Tuesday condemned measures targeting it in a new USdefense act, saying it would comprehensively assess aspects that beef upthe role of a key panel tasked with reviewing foreign investment proposals.
China’s complaints about the act come as the world’s two biggest economiesengage in an increasingly bitter fight over trade, levying tariffs on eachothers’ products.
US President Donald Trump signed a $716-billion defense policy act thatauthorizes military spending and waters down controls on US governmentcontracts with China’s ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd .
The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, strengthens the Committeeon Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews proposalsto determine if they threaten national security. That measure was seen astargeting China.
China’s Commerce Ministry said it had noted the inclusion of CFIUS in theact and would “comprehensively assess the contents”, paying close attentionto the impact on Chinese firms.
“The US side should objectively and fairly treat Chinese investors, andavoid CFIUS becoming an obstacle to investment cooperation between Chineseand US firms,” it said in a short statement.