On Friday the U.S. Department of Commerce blacklisted 23 Chinese companies connected to human rights abuses and the Communist Chinese military, restricting U.S. firms from doing business with those Chinese firms. The Chinese government responded to the blacklisting with a vow to retaliate.
The 19 blacklisted Chinese firms were listed by the Commerce Department on Friday, among a list of 34 total entities being added to the U.S. blacklist. The department said 14 of the entities, which are based in China, “Have enabled Beijing’s campaign of repression, mass detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Regions of China (XUAR), where the PRC continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity.”
The department said it “added another five entities directly supporting PRC’s military modernization programs related to lasers and C4ISR programs to the Entity List.”
The department said it took “decisive action to target entities that are enabling human rights abuses in Xinjiang or that use U.S. technology to fuel China’s destabilizing military modernization efforts.”
The blacklisted Chinese entities are Armyfly; Beijing E-science Co., Ltd.; Beijing Geling Shentong Information Technology Co., Ltd.; Beijing Hileed Solutions Co., Ltd.; Beijing Sinonet Science & Technology Co., Ltd.; Chengdu Xiwu Security System Alliance Co., Ltd.; China Academy of Electronics and Information Technology; Hangzhou Hualan Microelectronics Co., Ltd.; Info Rank Technologies; Kindroid; Kyland Technology Co., Ltd.; Leon Technology Co., Ltd.; Shenzhen Cobber Information Technology Co., Ltd.; Shenzhen Hua’antai Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.; Suzhou Keda Technology Co., Ltd.; Tongfang R.I.A. Co., Ltd.; Urumqi Tianyao Weiye Information Technology Service Co., Ltd.; Wingel Zhang; Wuhan Raycus Fiber Laser Technologies Co., Ltd.; Xinjiang Beidou Tongchuang Information Technology Co., Ltd.; Xinjiang Lianhai Chuangzhi Information Technology Co., Ltd.; Xinjiang Sailing Information Technology Co., Ltd.; and Xinjiang Tangli Technology Co., Ltd.
The 34 blacklisted entities, which comprise 43 total entries on the entity blacklist, also included six entities linked to the “procurement of U.S.-origin electronic components, likely in furtherance of Russian military programs” and eight more “facilitating the export of U.S. items to Iran in violation of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).”
Responding to the blacklisting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday, “The so-called ‘entity list’ of the U.S. is, in essence, a tool for suppressing specific companies and industries in China under the pretext of human rights, and means the US uses to destabilize Xinjiang and contain China. China firmly opposes this.”
“China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and foil U.S. attempts to interfere in China’s internal affairs,” Wenbin added.
China has retaliated against previous U.S. and European Union sanctions efforts, including sanctioning 10 individuals and four entities they said undermine China’s sovereignty and spread lies and disinformation, in response to joint U.S.-E.U. sanctions targeting China for human rights abuses in Xinjiang in March.
