US to blacklist 10 more Chinese firms over human rights violations in Xinjiang

The U.S. will be adding 10 more Chinese companies to its economic blacklist over alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang. A Reuters report stated that the U.S. Commerce Department will add them to the Entity List as early as Friday over reported abuses of Uighur Muslims.

The U.S. alleged that these ten companies abused human rights and provided Beijing with high-tech surveillance in China’s Muslim majority province of Xinjiang.

China has been accused of genocide and forced labor in Xinjiang. UN experts estimate more than a million people have been detained in Xinjiang. Most of them are Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minority communities such as the Kazakhs.

Beijing dismissed these allegations and said its policies are in line with its intentions to remove separatists and religious extremists who have aggravated the strife between Muslim ethnic Uyghurs and Han, China's largest ethnic group.

Last month, the Biden administration issued an executive order adding five more companies to the blacklist. This action affected the ability of the five firms to access commodities, software, and technology. The list currently has 59 Chinese companies that are banned from receiving American investments, including telecom equipment giant Huawei Technologies, reported Reuters.

Companies in the entity list need to apply to the Commerce Department for licenses. They are heavily scrutinized when they seek permission to receive items from U.S. suppliers, mentioned the report.

Even the Trump administration in 2019 targeted 20 Chinese public security bureaus and eight companies to the list for their involvement in the high-technology surveillance against Muslim minority groups in China.

Picture Credits: Reuters