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The United States on Thursday placed Chinese biotechnology companies on a trade blacklist for their alleged role in assisting in high-tech surveillance on the Uyghur community.
This backlisting is part of the larger trade restrictions imposed by the US Commerce Department against 37 entities from China, Georgia, Malaysia and Turkey. "This rule implements the decision of the ERC [End-User Review Committee] to add thirty-seven entities under forty entries to the Entity List ... The entities are located in the People's Republic of China, Georgia, Malaysia, and Turkey," the statement said. "Of the forty entries, thirty-four are located in China, three are located in Georgia, one is located in Malaysia, and two are located in Turkey. Three entities are listed under multiple destinations, accounting for the difference between the number of entities and number of entries in this final rule," it added. The US Commerce Department said that blacklisted Chinese entities are engaged in developing and deploying biotechnology and other technologies for military applications and human rights abuses. "The scientific pursuit of biotechnology and medical innovation can save lives. Unfortunately, the PRC is choosing to use these technologies to pursue control over its people and its repression of members of ethnic and religious minority groups," US Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo said. "We cannot allow US commodities, technologies, and software that support medical science and biotechnical innovation to be diverted toward uses contrary to U.S. national security," Raimondo added. This comes a day after the US House of Representatives passed a final version of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which bans the importation of goods made with forced labour in China's Xinjiang province. The legislation was by the House on Tuesday night through a voice vote and sent to the Senate for consideration. (ANI)
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