The United States has added major Chinese companies Alibaba Group, BYD Company, and Baidu to a Pentagon list of firms it says support China’s military, expanding a blacklist that now includes 188 companies.

The designation means the firms and their subsidiaries could be barred from U.S. defense contracts under rules set to take effect soon.

China condemned the move as discriminatory, while Alibaba and others rejected the claims and said they would challenge the listing.

The U.S. says the companies are linked to China’s “military-civil fusion” strategy, though critics argue the blacklist is overly broad and difficult to enforce, Al-Jazeera has reported.

The move comes amid ongoing tensions between Washington and Beijing despite recent diplomatic efforts to ease trade and tech disputes.