The US Department of Defense added more Chinese companies, including drone maker DJI Technology Co (大疆創新) and surveillance equipment maker Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co (浙江大華科技), to a blacklist that subjects them to an investment ban for Americans.
BGI Genomics Co Ltd (華大基因), which has DNA-sequencing contracts with health firms and universities worldwide, and runs a massive gene databank, as well as CRRC Corp (中國中車), which engages in the manufacture and sale of rail transit equipment, are also among the 13 companies added to the list released by the Pentagon on Wednesday.
Last year, a Reuters review of scientific papers and company statements found that BGI developed its prenatal tests in collaboration with the Chinese military and was using them to collect genetic data for sweeping research on the traits of populations.
Photo: REUTERS
“The Department is determined to highlight and counter the People’s Republic of China’s [PRC] Military-Civil Fusion strategy, which supports the modernization goals of the [Chinese] People’s Liberation Army by ensuring its access to advanced technologies and expertise are acquired and developed by PRC companies, universities and research programs that appear to be civilian entities,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
The list bars buying or selling publicly traded securities in target companies.
An initial tranche of about 50 Chinese firms that included telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co (華為) was added to the US list in June last year.
At the time, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order that banned US entities from investing in the dozens of Chinese firms with alleged ties to defense or surveillance technology sectors.
The order aimed to prevent US investment from supporting the Chinese military-industrial complex, as well as military, intelligence and security research and development programs.
It was part of Biden’s broader series of steps to counter China, including reinforcing US alliances and pursuing large domestic investments to bolster US economic competitiveness, amid increasingly sour relations between the world’s two biggest economies.
Separately, sources have said that the Biden administration is planning to exclude SK Hynix Inc and Samsung Electronics Co from new restrictions on DRAM and flash memorychip makers in China.
The US Department of Commerce, which is scheduled to release new curbs on exports to China this week, will likely deny requests by US DRAM or flash memorychip equipment suppliers to send their products to Chinese firms including Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC, 長江存儲) and ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc (CXMT, 長鑫存儲), they said.
However, license requests to sell equipment to non-Chinese firms making advanced memory chips in the country would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, they said.
“The goal is not to hurt non-indigenous companies,” one of the people briefed on the matter said.
The White House and the commerce department declined to comment.
SK Hynix, Samsung, YMTC and CXMT did not respond to requests for comment.
The Chinese embassy in the US on Thursday described the expected rules as “sci-tech hegemony.”
It said the US is using its “technological prowess ... to hobble and suppress the development of emerging markets and developing countries.”
WHEELING AND DEALING? Hou You-yi, Ko Wen-je, Eric Chu and Ma Ying-jeou are under investigation for allegedly offering bribes for the other side to drop out of the race Taipei prosecutors have started an investigation into allegations that four top politicians involved in attempts to form a “blue-white” presidential ticket have contravened election regulations. Listed as defendants are Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). The case stemmed from judicial complaints filed last month with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office alleging that the KMT (blue) and the TPP (white) had engaged in bribery by offering money or other enticements
EXPOSED: Some Taipei wardens reported joining the trips out of peer pressure, while others said they were relieved it was made public so they could refuse, a city councilor said Nearly 30 percent of Taipei borough wardens have joined group tours to China that were partially funded by the Chinese government, leading prosecutors probing potential Chinese interference in January’s elections to question local officials, an investigation showed. Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City councilors Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) and Chen E-jun (陳怡君) have reported cases of Taipei borough wardens inviting residents to join inexpensive privately organized group tours to China that were partially funded by the Chinese government. The six-day trips reportedly cost NT$10,000 to NT$15,000, the councilors said. An investigation by the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) showed that nearly 30 percent
ELIGIBLE FOR JANUARY: All presidential candidates and their running mates meet the requirements to run for office, and none hold dual citizenship, the CEC said Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator and vice presidential candidate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) is working with the Central Election Commission (CEC) to resolve issues with her financial disclosure statement, a spokesman for the candidate said yesterday, after the commission published the statements of all three presidential candidates and their running mates, while confirming their eligibility to run in the Jan. 13 election. Wu’s office spokesman, Chen Yu-cheng (陳宥丞), said the candidate encountered unforeseen difficulties disclosing her husband’s finances due to being suddenly thrust into the campaign. She is also the first vice presidential nominee to have a foreign spouse, complicating the reporting of
GOOD NEWS: Although open civic spaces are shrinking in Asia-Pacific countries and territories, Taiwan’s openness is a positive sign, an expert said Taiwan remains the only country in Asia with an “open” civic space for the fifth consecutive year, the Civicus Monitor said in a report released yesterday. The People Power Under Attack 2023 report named Taiwan as one of only 37 open countries or territories out of 198 globally, and the only one in Asia. Compiled by Civicus — a global alliance of civil society organizations dedicated to bolstering civil action — the ranking compiled annually since 2017 measures the state of freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression around the world. Researchers assign each country or territory one of five rankings describing the
RSS