The U.S. considers more Chinese companies to be linked to alleged human rights abuses by Reuters

By Nandita Bose, Michael Martina and Alexandra Alper

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Roadmaps hit dozens of Chinese organizations with export cuts on Thursday, accusing them of aiding the oppression of China’s Uyghur minority or supporting the Beijing military, escalating tensions between the world’s two major economies.

Referring to the alleged use of biotechnology to support the Chinese military, “the Department of Commerce added the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences and its 11 research institutes to a blacklist, restricting access to U.S. exports. unspecified.

Departments include HMN International, formerly Huawei Marine, as well as Jiangsu Hengtong Marine Cable Systems, Jiangsu Hengtong OpticElectric, Shanghai Aoshi Control Technology Co., Ltd. and Zhongtian Technology Submarine Cable was also added to the list for allegedly trying or trying to get it. , Technology to help modernize the U.S. Army Liberation Army.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to the request for comment.

UN experts and rights groups estimate that more than a million people, mostly Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities, have been arrested in recent years in a large camp system in the remote Xinjiang region of China.

China denies violations of Xinjiang’s rights and the United States has backed its “interference” in its affairs, swearing that its companies will protect it against US sanctions.

The move by the US on Thursday last week followed the US ban on facial recognition company SenseTime, which could worsen relations between Beijing and Washington.

Trade Secretary Gina Raimondo said China is choosing to use biotechnology “to gain control of its people and repression against members of ethnic and religious groups.”

“We cannot allow U.S. products, technologies, and software that support medical science and biotech innovation to be targeted for use against U.S. national security,” it said in a statement.

The Department of the Treasury will also announce actions against Chinese companies accusing Washington of using biotechnology and surveillance to abuse human rights, a senior administration official said.

LIST OF ENTITIES

The so-called entity list has become a tool of Washington in the US-China technology conflict since the Trump administration. Suppliers of companies on the list must apply for a special license to send the goods to the target company. License applications have a tough standard of review.

Thursday’s move is likely to add further mistrust to US-China relations, despite President Joe Biden’s virtual meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November trying to establish “railings” to prevent the two superpowers from slipping into conflict.

Beijing and Washington have clashed over a number of issues, including a U.S. expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal and a decision by the Biden administration this month to boycott U.S. government officials for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics for human rights violations.

Washington accuses China of genocide against Xinjiang’s Muslim minority.

China’s huge telecommunications equipment was added to the list of Huawei Technologies entities in 2019 due to national security concerns. HMN Technologies, a manufacturer of submarine cables, was added to the list that year. It has since been removed from Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, but the majority is owned by Shanghai-based Hengtong Optic-Electric Co Ltd.

Washington is increasingly concerned about the security threats posed by the company’s role in building submarine internet cables, which have a higher data capacity than satellites. Last year, HMN sent warnings to Pacific Island nations expressing strategic concerns about its offer to participate in a regional communications improvement project, Reuters reported.

Beijing has consistently denied any intention to use cable infrastructure for espionage.