The Biden administration on Friday added 14 Chinese companies and other entities to its economic blacklist over human rights abuses and high-tech surveillance in Xinjiang.
The Commerce Department said the 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."
Reuters first reported the planned additions late Thursday. They 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.
The Commerce Department said in total it was adding 34 entities including some from Russia and Iran, and another five entities directly supporting China's military modernization programs related to lasers and battle management system.
“The Department of Commerce remains firmly committed to taking strong, decisive action to target entities that are enabling human rights abuses in Xinjiang or that use US technology to fuel China’s destabilizing military modernization efforts," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.
The list also includes eight entities for facilitating the export of US items to Iran and six entities for involvement in the procurement of US-origin electronic components, likely in furtherance of Russian military programs.
The action follows the department's decision last month to add five other companies and other Chinese entities to the blacklist over allegations of forced labor in the far western region of China.
