Eight Chinese tech firms placed on US Entity List for their role in human rights violations against Muslim minority groups
Eight Chinese tech firms, including SenseTime and Megvii,
have been added to the U.S. government Entity List for their role in enabling human rights violations against Muslim minority groups in China, including the Uighurs.
The firms
were among 28 total organizations, mostly Chinese government agencies,
that were implicated “in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs, Kazakhs and other members of Muslim minority groups” in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, according to an announcement by the U.S. Commerce Department.
According to the United Nations, up to one in 12 Muslim residents of Xinjiang region, or about a million people, are being held in detention camps, where they are subjected to forced labor and torture.
Being placed on the Entity List
means these organizations must apply for additional licenses in order to purchase products from U.S. suppliers.
But approval is difficult to obtain, which essentially means they are blocked from doing business with American companies.
After Huawei was placed on the Entity List earlier this year,
founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei said he expected the company to lose $30 billion in revenue, among other financial repercussions.
The government organizations
placed on the Entity List today
include the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region People’s Government Public Security Bureau
and
several associated government agencies;
tech companies video surveillance manufacturers Dahua Technology Hikvision;
AI tech firms Yitu, Megvii, SenseTime
and iFlyTek;
digital forensics company Meiya Pico;
and Yixin Technology Company.
SenseTime,
the world’s most highly valued AI startup, has supplied software to the Chinese government for its national surveillance system, including CCTV cameras and smart glasses worn by police officers.
Both Megvii, the maker of Face++,
Yitu Technology
focus on facial recognition technology and have worked with the Chinese government on software used in mass surveillance systems.
According to The New York Times,
Hikvision
made a recognition system designed to identify ethnic minorities, but began phasing it out last year.
TechCrunch
U.S. Department of Commerce Adds 28 Chinese Organizations to its Entity List | U.S. Department of Commerce
Federal Register :: Addition of Certain Entities to the Entity List