{"text":[[{"start":9.25,"text":"The Pentagon has reinstated Alibaba, Baidu and BYD to a blacklist of Chinese companies deemed to pose a national security risk to the US because of alleged connections to the People’s Liberation Army."}],[{"start":22.1,"text":"The defence department added the groups to its “Chinese military companies” list on Monday. Inclusion has no legal implications for most of the companies but it can signal that the US may target them with more punitive measures in the future."}],[{"start":35.95,"text":"The move comes nearly a month after Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Beijing and agreed to work towards a “constructive relationship of strategic stability”. Xi is expected to visit the US in September."}],[{"start":47.95,"text":"The Pentagon added the three companies to its 1260H list in February. But in a move that caused confusion, it abruptly withdrew the list less than an hour later, sparking speculation that Trump did not want to upset China before his May visit to Beijing."}],[{"start":64.25,"text":"The list released on Monday included the same companies added in February."}],[{"start":68.3,"text":"“The Pentagon’s republished Chinese military companies list serves as a post-summit reality check,” said Craig Singleton, a US-China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “The Xi-Trump meeting did not pause competition. It clarified where competition will continue.”"}],[{"start":86.15,"text":"The FT reported in November that the White House believed Alibaba was providing technological support for Chinese military “operations” against US targets. The claim, which Alibaba denied, came in a White House memo obtained by the FT that was based on declassified “top secret” intelligence. "}],[{"start":103.5,"text":"In determining that Alibaba had Chinese military ties on Monday, the Pentagon said the ecommerce and cloud computing group was a “military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defence industrial base” because of its affiliation with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology."}],[{"start":120.7,"text":"China’s “military-civil fusion” programme requires private companies to share technology with the PLA when ordered to by the government."}],[{"start":128.85,"text":"The Pentagon said Alibaba was also indirectly affiliated with the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. In listing BYD, the defence department said the world’s largest electric-vehicle manufacturer had direct connections to Sasac and was affiliated with the MIIT."}],[{"start":145.54999999999998,"text":"All three companies said there was no basis for their inclusion. Alibaba said it would “take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company”, while Baidu said it would “not hesitate to use all options available” to get off the list."}],[{"start":160.49999999999997,"text":"When the Pentagon withdrew its updated list in February, some experts speculated that officials had objected to a section that removed two Chinese memory-chip makers, CXMT and YMTC. The version released on Monday reinstated the chipmakers."}],[{"start":177.24999999999997,"text":"John Moolenaar, the Republican chair of the House China committee, said the list was a “warning” to US companies and businesses that the Chinese groups were working “against our national interests”."}],[{"start":188.94999999999996,"text":"The Michigan lawmaker added: “Any of them that are publicly traded on US exchanges should be immediately delisted and their products should be removed from supply chains our country depends on.”"}],[{"start":200.24999999999997,"text":"The Pentagon also returned WuXi AppTec, a biotechnology group, to the list. The Biosecure Act, which passed last year, restricted the federal government from doing business with any biotech company on the 1260H list."}],[{"start":214.94999999999996,"text":"WuXi said on Monday it had no ties to the Chinese military and would “take immediate actions to correct this erroneous designation”."}],[{"start":223.24999999999997,"text":"The Chinese embassy in Washington said Beijing “opposes the US overstretching the concept of national security and making discriminatory lists to go after Chinese companies”."}],[{"start":233.94999999999996,"text":"Embassy spokesperson Liu Chang said: “The US should stop its wrong practice and create a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies.” "}],[{"start":244.19999999999996,"text":"Additional reporting by Eleanor Olcott in Beijing"}],[{"start":257.09999999999997,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780987206_6604.mp3"}