Chinese biotech company WuXi AppTec has won a temporary reprieve after a federal judge in the United States blocked the Pentagon from enforcing its decision to add the company to a list of entities allegedly supporting China's military, stating that the US Defense Department appeared to have misinterpreted key evidence.
On Friday, US District Judge James Boasberg issued an order preventing the Pentagon from implementing its June decision to designate WuXi AppTec as a "Chinese military company" while the company's lawsuit against the department proceeds.
Boasberg questioned the Pentagon's interpretation of evidence used to support its decision, including claims that WuXi AppTec was indirectly affiliated with China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), as well as the country's defense industry regulators and the People's Liberation Army.
In one example cited in the ruling, a fund linked to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) had 5.32 percent of its investment portfolio allocated to WuXi AppTec and, according to the court document, the Pentagon treated that figure as if the fund held a 5.32 percent ownership stake in the company.
"That is simply wrong," Boasberg wrote, comparing the mistake to a family investing 5 percent of its savings in a blue-chip company, which would not mean the family owns 5 percent of that company.
