People protest during the Uyghur rally outside the US mission to the United Nations in New York on February 5, 2019 (AFP / TIMOTHY A. CLARY)
The United States has strengthened its arsenal against China, which has been accused of violating Uyghur rights.
Condemning these violations and threats to US national security, President Joe Biden’s administration has stepped up sanctions against Chinese interests in recent months, contributing to the deterioration of bilateral relations.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Commerce launched an offensive by placing about 30 companies on the Sensitive Exports Control List.
The Treasury has barred U.S. citizens from doing business with eight high-tech companies, including DJI, the world’s No. 1 drone company, which has already been on the Commerce Department’s blockchain for two years.
Finally, the Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a law banning imports to the United States in the name of a “fight against forced labor” prepared in Xinjiang (northwest China).
The Ministry of Commerce and the Treasury have decided to target Chinese high technology, which they say is being used to infringe on Uyghur rights.
Logo of the Chinese company DJI on December 16, 2021 in Beijing (AFP / Jade GAO)
“China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and its strong opposition,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenpin said Friday, promising that Beijing would “take all necessary measures” to protect its companies.
The United States has “discovered all sorts of excuses and is abusing its export control measures to unjustly repress Chinese companies and institutions,” he told reporters. “Now they are reaching a point where they have no qualms about achieving their goals.”
– Attacks –
Mainly Muslims, Uighurs are the main ethnic group in Xinjiang. The area, which has long been plagued by alleged bloody attacks by separatists or Uighur Islamists, is under heavy police surveillance.
Based on Western studies, interpretations of official documents, alleged testimonies of victims and statistical exaggerations, Beijing accuses one million people of staying in “camps”, carrying out “forced contraception” and imposing “forced labor”.
Map of suspected detention centers for Uyghur Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region of northwest China, according to satellite imagery by the Australian Institute for Strategic Policy (AFP /)
The United States has called the campaign a “genocide” and a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games (February 4-20, 2022).
Beijing vehemently denies the allegations and presents the “camps” as “vocational training centers” aimed at deterring residents from inciting extremism.
Human rights groups say China is monitoring Uyghurs with artificial intelligence for facial recognition.
“Scientific research in biotechnology and medical discoveries can save lives. Unfortunately, the People’s Republic of China uses these technologies to control its population and suppress ethnic and religious minority groups,” said U.S. Trade Secretary Gina Raymondo. Justify new obstacles.
Research institutes targeted by recent US activities include centers focusing on blood transfusion, bioengineering and toxicology.
– “Brain control” –
The United States believes that “private companies in China’s security and surveillance technology sectors are actively cooperating with the (Chinese) government in its efforts to suppress members of minority ethnic and religious groups.” Treasury on Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson.
Face recognition cameras (AFP / NICOLAS ASFOURI) at an international security exhibition in Beijing in October 2018
A total of 37 companies have been added to the list of business sector companies accused of engaging in activities “contrary to US foreign policy and national security interests.”
According to a document released in the Official Gazette on Friday, the list includes Chinese companies, as well as Georgia, Malaysian and Turkish companies.
For goodness sake, Washington has decided to restrict sensitive exports to the Chinese Military Academy of Medical Sciences and its 11 research institutes because of its biotechnology mission.
The text, adopted Thursday in Congress, also bans the importation of goods made entirely or partially in Xinjiang unless companies can prove to customs officials that they were not made by “forced labor.”
Joe Biden has not signed yet.
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