US sanctions DJI and AI firms including Megvii over alleged Xinjiang human rights abuses
- Chinese AI giant SenseTime was added to blacklist last week, which led it to postpone its Hong Kong IPO
- Other sanctioned firms include AI firms CloudWalk Technology and Yitu Technology, and supercomputer maker Dawning Information Industry
“Today’s action highlights how private firms in China’s defence and surveillance technology sectors are actively cooperating with the government’s efforts to repress members of ethnic and religious minority groups,” said Brian Nelson, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence
“Treasury remains committed to ensuring that the US financial system and American investors are not supporting these activities,” he added.
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The blacklist places the named entities on the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List (NS-CMIC), covering those not fully blocked under the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN) list. It bars US investors from taking financial stakes in listed firms.
The move to sanction eight more Chinese firms focuses mostly on AI and cloud-computing developers.
The sanctioned companies include AI firms CloudWalk Technology and Yitu Technology; supercomputer maker Dawning Information Industry, which is also known as Sugon; Xiamen Meiya Pico, whose clients are mainly law enforcement departments; Leon Technology, a provider of security software and telecommunication solutions; and NetPosa Technologies, a producer of cloud-based surveillance systems.
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Megvii said it “strongly opposes” the US move, and said the relevant allegations were “ungrounded”. DJI declined to comment, and the other firms did not respond to inquiries by the Post.
The inclusion of these companies on the NS-CMIC adds to the headwinds Chinese technology firms face in the US. The administration of former president Donald Trump added dozens of firms to the so-called Entity List, which restricted exports to these firms.
The Treasury Department said that the firms added to the NS-CMIC list on Thursday were also on the Entity List.
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“One of these companies developed customised software that supposedly recognises specific ethnic minorities, including Tibetans and Uygurs, and alerts authorities when it finds them,” Blinken said.
“Another company produces software that includes a transcription and translation tool for the Uygur language to enable authorities to scan residents’ devices for criminal content,” he said.
The Chinese government denies all accusations of human rights violations in the region.
The Commerce department claimed that the entities were being used by the Chinese military to support “purported brain-control weaponry”.
“The scientific pursuit of biotechnology and medical innovation can save lives,” said US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “Unfortunately, [China] is choosing to use these technologies to pursue control over its people and its repression of members of ethnic and religious minority groups.”
“We cannot allow US commodities, technologies, and software that support medical science and biotechnical innovation to be diverted toward uses contrary to US national security,” she said.
The additions to the Entity List also included Chinese technology companies that the US says are aiding China’s military development and Iran’s defence capabilities, including Aerosun Corporation; Fujian Torch Electron Technology Company; Hong Kong Cheung Wah Electronics Technology Company Limited; Shenzhen Rion Technology and Thundsea Electric Limited.
