share this article!

Flags of China and the United States fly outside a company building in Shanghai, China, on April 14, 2021. REUTERS/File Photo/Aly Song (Reuters) – SHANGHAI, July 11 – The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday that it “resolutely rejects” the placement of 23 Chinese firms to a US trade blacklist over allegations of human rights violations and military connections. The Chinese commerce ministry claimed the inclusion of the Chinese corporations was a “severe infringement of international economic and trade rules” and a “unreasonable repression” of Chinese companies in a statement citing a spokeswoman. According to the statement, the Chinese government “will take necessary actions to safeguard China’s legitimate rights and interests.” The US Department of Commerce announced on Friday that 14 companies and other entities had been added to its economic blacklist for “human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass detention, and high-tech surveillance against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.” find out more Beijing denies the allegations of human rights violations. Entities on the economic blacklist are normally required to apply for licenses from the Commerce Department, and their requests for permission to receive commodities from U.S. suppliers are scrutinized closely. Washington also identified five entities that it claims directly help China’s laser and combat management system modernization programs. It also named four more entities for “exporting and attempting to export commodities” to U.S.-sanctioned entities. The Commerce Department under then-President Donald Trump targeted 20 Chinese public security bureaus and eight companies in 2019 over China’s treatment of Muslim minorities, including video surveillance firm Hikvision (002415.SZ), as well as leaders in facial recognition technology SenseTime Group Ltd and Megvii Technology Ltd. Andrew Galbraith contributed reporting; Ryan Woo contributed additional reporting in Beijing; and Lincoln Feast edited the piece. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles are our standards./nRead More

share this article!