In a more aggressive act towards China, the United States slammed restrictions on two sets of Chinese establishments, one which are dealing with military technology and others which is allegedly aiding China’s atrocities on Muslim groups.
A total number of 33 entities and individuals were put in the blacklist by the commerce department of the United States government on Friday. As per reports, the commerce department named nine entities for human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region in Western China. The Department said, “the list includes seven companies that assist Beijing in high-technology surveillance in the region.”
The commerce department targeted 24 more Chinese public and private entities that are based in China, Hong-kong, and the Cayman Islands. The department stated that these organizations represent a significant risk of supporting the procurement of items for military end-use in China.
The department further added, “all the 33 entities which are added to an export blacklist of businesses and individuals that are considered to be national-security threats or engaged in activities contrary to the United States foreign policy. The American companies that continue to do business with them risk steep fines and jail time.”
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said, “these additions to the blacklisted demonstrate our commitment to preventing the use of US commodities and technologies in activities that undermine our interests.”
The organizations that are blacklisted for abetting Uighur surveillance are ClowdWalk Technology and FibreHome Technologies Group. Those involved in military technology are Beijing Computational Science Research and Qihoo 360 Technology Co.
Trump threatened to cut ties with China, pulled out pension fund investments
Last week, US President Donald Trump said that he has lost interest in speaking to President Xi Jinping and went on to suggest that his country could even cut ties with China following the outbreak of deadly pandemic of the Wuhan Coronavirus.
Trump said he was very disappointed with China’s failure to contain the disease and that the pandemic had cast a shadow over the US-China trade deal.
The Donald Trump administration also decided to pull out the billion-dollar worth of American pension fund investments in China. While speaking to Fox News, Trump said, “Billions of dollars, billions… Yeah, I pulled it back.”
