Beijing slams US House for hawkish ‘China week’

Chinese officials and state media have criticized the United States House of Representatives for pushing at least 25 hawkish China-related bills in a “China week” ahead of the US presidential election in November.

Among the bills, the BioSecure Act was passed by the US House of Representatives by 306 to 81 votes on Monday to make American drug companies stop doing business with five Chinese biotechnology companies until 2032.

The five companies include BGI Genomics, MGI Tech, Complete Genomics, WuXi AppTec and Wuxi Biologics. They were accused of collaborating with the People’s Liberation Army but they denied the allegations.

The BioSecure Act needs approval from the Senate and the signature of US President Joe Biden to become law.

Shares of some US-listed Indian Pharmaceutical companies such as Laurus Labs, Syngene and Piramal Pharma gained 3-4% on Monday.

“The US needs to abandon ideological bias, respect the principles of market economy and trade rules, stop advancing that bill, and stop suppressing Chinese companies under various pretexts,” Mao Ning, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in a media briefing on Tuesday.

“The US needs to provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for companies of all countries,” she said.

She added that China will continue working to protect the lawful and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and support them in safeguarding their own rights and interests in accordance with the law. 

The House of Representatives also on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which will grant the US government the power to disclose Chinese officials’ illicit financial assets in the event that Beijing invades Taiwan.

‘Anti-China week’

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