WASHINGTON, 18 December 2020, (TON): The United States is planning to blacklist a dozen of Chinese companies including SMIC, the country’s top chipmakes company, sources familiar with the matter told media.

The Commerce Department is expected to add around 80 additional companies and affiliates to the so-called entity list, nearly all of them Chinese.

The designations are expected to name some Chinese companies that Washington alleges have ties to the Chinese military, including some allegedly helping it construct and militarize artificial islands in the South China Sea, as well as some involved in human rights violations, the sources said.

SMIC has already been in Washington’s watch however, it has repeatedly said that it has no relationship with the Chinese military.

China’s foreign ministry responded, saying it would evidence of US oppression of Chinese companies and reaffirmed the commencement of defensive measures.

“We urge the U.S. to cease its mistaken behavior of unwarranted oppression of foreign companies,” ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular news conference in Beijing on Friday.