As a report by the US Treasury Department confirmed on Wednesday, a growing number of Chinese bids to acquire US companies have fallen prey to US government reviews on the grounds of national security concerns.

The bid by Chinese-backed private equity company Canyon Bridge to buy US chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor Corp was the latest to fall foul of such a claim, with the US president putting a stop to the deal despite the fact that Lattice has not had any business deals with the US military since 2012, according to Ray Bingham, a partner of Canyon Bridge.

The blocking of the deal has rightly aroused concerns about US protectionism and led some to say it is being "penny wise, but pound foolish".