The U.S. Department of Commerce has added 36 Chinese high-tech companies to an export controls blacklist, citing concerns over national security, U.S. interests and human rights.
The insertion of the companies in the trade “Entity List” connotes that export licenses will likely be denied for any U.S. company trying to do business with them.
In some cases, companies based in other countries are also required to comply with the requirements to prevent technologies from being diverted to uses banned under the export controls.
The move signals United States’ stiffened efforts to prevent China, especially its military, from acquiring advanced technologies such as leading edge computer chips and hypersonic weapons.
It is the most recent in a years-long escalation of U.S. restrictions of Chinese technology that began with President Donald Trump and has continued under President Joe Biden’s administration.
At the same time, the Biden administration has been moving to strengthen American manufacturing capabilities for semiconductors and other advanced technologies.
The changes to the Commerce Department’s entity list were entered in the Federal Register, scheduled for publication on Friday, December 16, 2022.
According to the document, Yangtze Memory Technology Co., a computer chip maker based in the central city of Wuhan, and its Japan unit were included in the list for “posing a significant risk of becoming involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.”
It revealed that Yangtze Memory Technologies and Hefei Core Storage Electronic Ltd. were included because they allegedly might act as suppliers to Huawei Technologies, the world’s biggest maker of network equipment, and to Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, another company subject to U.S. sanctions.
Late last month, the U.S. banned the sale of communications equipment made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE and restricting the use of some China-made video surveillance systems, including Hangzhou Hikvision, citing an “unacceptable risk” to national security.
Some of the companies were included in the list for being at “risk of diversion” to other companies on the entity list or are accused of illegally exporting U.S. electronics subject to export controls to Iran for military use.
Some major aviation suppliers were included to prevent them acquiring know-how and products that would aid China’s development of hypersonic weapons and other military capabilities.
Tianjin Tiandi Weiye Technologies Co. was listed, the document said, because it was implicated in high-technology surveillance, detentions and other human rights violations of Muslim ethnic minorities in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region.
No Response From China
There was no immediate comment from the Chinese government on Friday, December 16, 2022.
However, Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said the U.S. was “stretching the concept of national security, abusing export control measures, engaging in discriminatory and unfair treatment against enterprises of other countries, and politicizing and weaponizing economic and sci-tech issues.”
Wang made this comment when asked on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, about reports that Washington was planning to change the trade blacklist to include more than 30 Chinese companies.
“This is blatant economic coercion and bullying in the field of technology. It is not in the interests of China, the U.S. or the whole world.”
Wang Wenbin
Earlier this week, China filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the United States over its export control measures for computer chips.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce noted that Beijing did so to protect its “legitimate interests.”
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