No deal forthcoming under duress

The US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday that it will add China General Nuclear Power Group, the country's largest State-owned nuclear company, to its Entity List - which means US companies will be prohibited from selling products and technologies to the Chinese enterprise.

The US has accused CGN of diverting technologies for military use, but that is just an excuse. The real aim is to try to thwart the country's "Made in China 2025" initiative that seeks to let Chinese manufacturing move up the value chain, and thus contain its growth.

For that purpose, the US administration has abused the blacklist in the name of safeguarding US national security and foreign policy interests, and imposed technology sanctions on dozens of Chinese companies, including telecommunications equipment giant Huawei.