Biden Adds 14 Chinese Companies To Blacklist

The Biden administration added 14 Chinese companies to its economic blacklist on Friday due to human rights abuses and high-tech surveillance in Xinjiang.

The U.S. Commerce Department said the Chinese companies had been “implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass detention, and high technology surveillance against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.”

Beijing has denied the allegations. Other blacklisted companies include the China Academy of Electronics and Information Technology; Xinjiang Lianhai Chuangzhi Information Technology Co; Shenzhen Cobber Information Technology Co; Xinjiang Sailing Information Technology; Beijing Geling Shentong Information Technology; Shenzhen Hua’antai Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. and Chengdu Xiwu Security System Alliance Co., Ltd.

China dismisses accusations of genocide and using forced labor, claiming its actions in Xinjiang are needed to stamp out separatists and religious extremists who plotted attacks and stirred up tensions between Muslim ethnic Uyghurs and the Han, China’s largest ethnic group.

“The Chinese side will take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and rejects U.S. attempts to interfere in China’s internal affairs,” said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Friday.

The additions to the blacklists are consistent with President Joe Biden earlier actions to pressure China over what the administration says are worsening human rights abuses against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang.

Also, this is not the first time the U.S. government has listed Chinese firms linked to high-tech surveillance activities in Xinjiang.

In 2019, the Trump administration added China’s top artificial intelligence startups to its economic blacklist, due to the treatment of Muslim minorities.