Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

China tells US to reverse decision to blacklist Xinjiang tech firms

Surveillance and facial recognition firms targeted over their role in the region, where one million Muslims are reported to have been detained.
Beijing declines to say whether it will retaliate as two sides prepare to resume trade talks.

Beijing has demanded that the US revoke a decision to add 28 Chinese government and business entities to an export blacklist over their role in Xinjiang – but stopped short of saying whether it would retaliate.

Speaking days before high-level trade talks resume in Washington, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters to “stay tuned” when asked if China would act over the blacklisting of some of the country’s biggest producers of surveillance equipment and artificial intelligence start-ups.

He went on to accuse the US of having “sinister intentions” and said Washington should immediately correct its mistakes and stop interfering in China’s affairs.

“China will continue to take firm and forceful measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests,” he said.

The US Commerce Department said the entities had been targeted over the “brutal suppression” of Muslims in the region, where China has been accused of detaining more than a million ethnic Uygurs and other Muslims – the equivalent of around 10 per cent of the Uygur population.

Geng denied that human rights abuses were occurring in the far western region, saying: “The so-called human rights issue of the US does not exist in Xinjiang. The measures taken by China to eliminate extremism from the roots are fully in line with Chinese law and international practice.”

Noting his remarks were more conciliatory than another ministry statement in May, analysts said Beijing was apparently more concerned about the fate of the first official trade talks in more than two months.


US adds Chinese surveillance giant Hikvision to trade blacklist

The US Commerce Department expanded its trade blacklist on Monday to include 20 local public security bureaus in Xinjiang and eight technology giants, including Hikvision and Zhejiang Dahua Technology, two of the world’s largest manufacturers of video surveillance products.

The list also includes leaders in facial recognition technology, SenseTime Group and Megvii Technology, as well as other companies that specialise in voice recognition and data – iFlytek, Xiamen Meiya Pico Information and Yixin Science and Technology.

These entities have been involved “in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention and high-technology surveillance against Uygurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups” in Xinjiang, the Commerce Department said in the filing.

A spokesman for the department said the move was unrelated to trade negotiations, but said it would not tolerate “brutal suppression of ethnic minorities within China”.

Hikvision said in a statement that it strongly opposed the decision and had been trying to address the US administration’s concerns for the past year.

The punishment will “hurt Hikvision’s US business partners and negatively impact the US economy,” the company said.
Reuters reported that in August Hikvision, officially known as Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co Ltd, with a market value of about US$42 billion, receives nearly 30 per cent of its US$7 billion in revenue from overseas.

Lu Xiang, a research fellow on US issues with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the blacklist “is a very unfriendly move by the US government and not helpful to the overall US-China relations” ahead of the trade talks.

“It’s an issue apart from the trade front, and the Chinese delegation won’t discuss the Xinjiang issue with the US in the trade talks,” he said.

The Commerce Department previously added Huawei and more than 100 affiliates to the entity list, despite the Chinese tech giant’s repeated denials that it has links to the Chinese government, military or intelligence services. It is now suing the US government over the restrictions.

Julian Ku, a professor at Hofstra University's law school, said it was unusual to use the entity list to target human rights abuses and the move marked a major shift in how it was used.

“For the very first time anywhere, a government is taking concrete action against China over its policies in Xinjiang. Up to now, it's all been talk (and not even that much talk). Now, at least, we have a little action,” he tweeted.

But he said blacklisting the entities was not as harsh as imposing sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act, which Human Rights Watch and members of Congress have called for.

In April, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers urged the move against Chinese companies that were “complicit in human rights abuses” specifically citing Hikvision and Dahua.

While it is still possible for US exporters to petition for licences to sell to Hikvision and other affected Chinese companies on the entity list, the Magnitsky Act was designed to target global human rights violators with freezes on any US assets, US travel bans and prohibitions on Americans doing business with them.

“In other words, this might be the least worst option for Hikvision, etc, since they may not be totally cut off from the US market. And the administration can say it is doing something on Xinjiang (which it is, but not as much as it could do),” Ku said.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio praised the Commerce Department’s move. “The Trump administration is sending a strong, clear message that the United States will hold the Chinese government and Communist Party and their enablers accountable for Beijing’s large-scale, systematic and egregious human rights abuses against Uygurs and other religious ethnic minorities in Xinjiang,” Rubio said.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×