A US federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Pentagon from designating Chinese biotechnology group WuXi AppTec as a “ Chinese military company ”, finding that defence officials repeatedly misread the evidence used to justify the decision. US District Chief Judge James Boasberg granted WuXi a preliminary injunction barring the Department of Defence from enforcing or otherwise giving effect to the designation while the company’s lawsuit proceeds. A Pentagon spokesperson declined to address the ruling or whether the department planned to appeal. “We welcome the court’s decision to grant the preliminary injunction we petitioned for,” a WuXi AppTec spokesperson told the Post. The spokesperson said WuXi believed the facts presented in its court filings would prevail following “an objective and fair judicial review”, adding that its operations remained “fully functional”.