Joe Biden has signed an executive order that bans American entities from investing in Chinese companies that appear to have ties to the military and the development of surveillance technologies . The Biden administration appears to be following in Trump’s footsteps in this area and adding other Chinese companies believed to support military and espionage activities to the “blacklist.” With Biden’s new additions, the US “blacklist” now includes 59 companies .
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Essentially, according to Biden, the new order prevents American companies from investing in, and therefore supporting, Chinese military organizations and industry, as well as military, security research and development programs.
“Furthermore, I find that the use of Chinese surveillance technology outside of China and the development or use of Chinese surveillance technology to facilitate repression or serious human rights abuses pose extraordinary threats,” Biden said.
The White House said the policy would take effect on August 2.
Major Chinese companies that were previously on the list were placed back on the updated list, including Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC), China Mobile Communications Group, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, Huawei Technologies Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC).
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SMIC is very important for China to strengthen its domestic chip industry.
“We expect that in the coming months… we will add more companies to the restrictions,” one of the senior officials said.
President Biden is reviewing some aspects of US policy toward China.
This move shows that the trade war between the US and China continues and relations between the two most powerful countries remain bad.
Senior officials said the Treasury Department will provide guidance and more details on companies that develop surveillance technologies and companies “that facilitate repression or serious human rights abuses.”
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However, some companies that were previously on the list, such as Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), which is leading China's efforts to compete with Boeing and Airbus, as well as two companies that challenged the ban in court, Gowin Semiconductor Corp and Luokung Technology Corp, were not included.
Also in May, a judge signed an order temporarily removing Xiaomi from the US “blacklist,” which had been accused by the Trump administration of alleged ties to China’s military.
Source: The Guardian.com
