Prudent application of unreliable entity list

Editor's Note: After China imposed trade and investment sanctions on Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Missiles and Defense Co, a unit of Raytheon, for supplying weapons to Taiwan last week, Zhang Wei, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, expounded on the practice in an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency. Excerpts:

Putting the two US companies on the Unreliable Entity List not only demonstrates the strong will of the Chinese government to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, but also reflects the firm determination of the government to operate prudently and continue to provide a more stable, fair and predictable business environment for foreign enterprises in China.

Compared with the United States and some Western countries, which generalize the concept of national security and abuse the "blacklist" sanctions, China has shown full restraint in the design of the list of unreliable entities, making fair, transparent and standardized institutional arrangements for the criteria for identification of unreliable entities, law enforcement procedures and legal liabilities.

For example, the scope of application will be strictly limited to a very small number of law-breaking foreign entities and will not be arbitrarily expanded.

In May 2019, China announced that it would establish the unreliable entity list system, and the regulations were officially introduced in September 2020. The Chinese government has spent nearly one and a half years carefully studying and deliberating issues related to it. That reflects the seriousness with which the Chinese government regards the move. And it was not until Feb 16 that the Chinese government used this weapon of self-defense for the first time, demonstrating a highly responsible attitude.

Over the years, Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Missile and Defense Co have repeatedly sold offensive weapons to Taiwan despite Beijing's opposition. Even so, the Chinese government has been restrained in its actions, not including the latter's parent company on the list, fully reflecting the precision, prudence and moderation of the relevant decision.

In other words, the scope of application of the regulations on the list is strictly limited and will not be expanded at will, and foreign-invested enterprises need not worry about this.