WASHINGTON: The Biden administration on Friday 10 . ready to add more Chinese companies In its economic blacklist over alleged human rights abuses and high-tech surveillance in Xinjiang, two sources told Reuters.
US Department of Commerce The action follows last month’s announcement of adding five other companies and other Chinese entities to the blacklist over allegations of forced labor in China’s far western region.
Sources said the inclusion in the Commerce Department’s entity list is part of the Biden administration’s efforts to hold China responsible for human rights violations.
China has rejected allegations of genocide and forced labor in Xinjiang, saying its policies were necessary to stamp out separatists and religious extremists who plotted the attacks and created tensions between mostly Muslim ethnic people. Uighurs and the Han, the largest ethnic group in China.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One of the sources said the department plans to add 14 Chinese companies to the entity list over the alleged misbehavior in Xinjiang.
The identities of the companies to be added were not immediately known. Some companies from other countries are also set to be included in the blacklist of the department as soon as Friday.
The White House declined to comment, while the Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The latest action comes as President Joe Biden aims to pressure China into what the administration says is worsening human rights abuses against the Uighur population in Xinjiang.
Typically, entity-listed companies have to apply for a license from the Commerce Department and face severe scrutiny when they ask permission to obtain items from US suppliers.
Last month, the Commerce Department said it was linking five Chinese entities accepting or using forced labor in the implementation of the People’s Republic of China’s campaign of repression against Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The department said the action in June targeted the ability of five entities, including Chinese-based solar panel materials firm Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., to “access goods, software and technology … and it is part of a broader US government effort in Xinjiang.” To take strong action against China’s ongoing campaign of repression against Muslim minority groups in the U.S.
This is not the first time the US government has targeted Chinese firms linked to allegations of high-tech surveillance activity in Xinjiang.
In 2019, the Trump administration added some of China’s top artificial intelligence startups to its economic blacklist over their dealings with Muslim minorities.
The Commerce Department under Trump targeted 20 Chinese public security bureaus and eight companies including video surveillance firm Hikvision, as well as leaders of facial recognition technology Sensetime Group Ltd and Megwi Technology Ltd.
The Commerce Department said the entities were implicated in “high-technology surveillance” in 2019 Uighurs, Kazakh and other members of Muslim minority groups.”
a Experts and rights groups estimate that more than a million people, most of whom are Uighurs and members of other Muslim minorities, have been detained in a vast system of camps in Xinjiang in recent years.
US Department of Commerce The action follows last month’s announcement of adding five other companies and other Chinese entities to the blacklist over allegations of forced labor in China’s far western region.
Sources said the inclusion in the Commerce Department’s entity list is part of the Biden administration’s efforts to hold China responsible for human rights violations.
China has rejected allegations of genocide and forced labor in Xinjiang, saying its policies were necessary to stamp out separatists and religious extremists who plotted the attacks and created tensions between mostly Muslim ethnic people. Uighurs and the Han, the largest ethnic group in China.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One of the sources said the department plans to add 14 Chinese companies to the entity list over the alleged misbehavior in Xinjiang.
The identities of the companies to be added were not immediately known. Some companies from other countries are also set to be included in the blacklist of the department as soon as Friday.
The White House declined to comment, while the Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The latest action comes as President Joe Biden aims to pressure China into what the administration says is worsening human rights abuses against the Uighur population in Xinjiang.
Typically, entity-listed companies have to apply for a license from the Commerce Department and face severe scrutiny when they ask permission to obtain items from US suppliers.
Last month, the Commerce Department said it was linking five Chinese entities accepting or using forced labor in the implementation of the People’s Republic of China’s campaign of repression against Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The department said the action in June targeted the ability of five entities, including Chinese-based solar panel materials firm Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., to “access goods, software and technology … and it is part of a broader US government effort in Xinjiang.” To take strong action against China’s ongoing campaign of repression against Muslim minority groups in the U.S.
This is not the first time the US government has targeted Chinese firms linked to allegations of high-tech surveillance activity in Xinjiang.
In 2019, the Trump administration added some of China’s top artificial intelligence startups to its economic blacklist over their dealings with Muslim minorities.
The Commerce Department under Trump targeted 20 Chinese public security bureaus and eight companies including video surveillance firm Hikvision, as well as leaders of facial recognition technology Sensetime Group Ltd and Megwi Technology Ltd.
The Commerce Department said the entities were implicated in “high-technology surveillance” in 2019 Uighurs, Kazakh and other members of Muslim minority groups.”
a Experts and rights groups estimate that more than a million people, most of whom are Uighurs and members of other Muslim minorities, have been detained in a vast system of camps in Xinjiang in recent years.
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