The US is to add more Chinese tech and healthcare companies, including top drone maker DJI Technology Co (大疆創新) and artificial intelligence (AI) giant Megvii Technology Ltd (曠視科技), to investment and export blacklists for alleged involvement in surveillance of the country’s Uighur minorities, the Financial Times (FT) reported, citing people familiar with the moves.
The FT named the other companies being added to the list as supercomputer maker Dawning Information Industry Co (中科曙光), facial recognition specialist CloudWalk Technology Co (雲從科技), cybersecurity group Xiamen Meiya Pico Information Co (廈門市美亞柏科), artificial intelligence company Yitu Technology (依圖科技), and cloud computing firms Leon Technology Co (立昂技術) and NetPosa Technologies Ltd (東方網力).
US investors are barred from investing in firms on the blacklist. The firms named were already on a separate blacklist that bans them from accessing US technologies.
Photo: Reuters
The US Department of Commerce also plans to slap sanctions on the export of US technology to more than two dozen other Chinese firms, including several in the field of biotechnology, the FT reported without identifying them.
Wuxi Biologics Cayman Inc (藥明生物) plummeted as much as 24 percent yesterday in Hong Kong trading — its most on record.
“It’s an extremely painful drop, and until we know more details, it’s hard for us to take any action. This is extremely confusing as there are neither names nor specifics on what the sanctions will be, especially as so many orders have already been signed in advance, what will happen to those?” said Lin Cun (林存), a fund manager at Shenzhen Senrui Investment Co (森瑞投資) specializing in healthcare. “All we can do is watch the losses for now.”
A DJI spokesperson declined to comment on the FT report, but directed reporters to the company’s statement when it was added to the agency’s “Entity List” a year ago for the same reasons.
At the time, DJI said that it had done nothing to justify the move and would continue to sell its products in the US, where it has built up a large market.
The moves come days after Washington sanctioned SenseTime Group Inc (商湯科技) over the alleged oppression of Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region, forcing the AI leader to postpone its Hong Kong initial public offering.
The UN and rights groups estimate that more than 1 million people, mainly Uighurs, have been detained in Xinjiang.
Some foreign lawmakers and parliaments have labeled the treatment of Uighurs as “genocide,” citing evidence of forced sterilizations and deaths inside the camps.
China denies these claims and says the Uighur population growth rate is above the national average.
US President Joe Biden’s administration is also said to be considering imposing tougher sanctions on China’s largest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯國際).
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is touring Asia this week, criticized China’s “aggressive actions” in the region, while laying out plans to more closely integrate US allies and security partners.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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