US blacklists 28 Chinese cos over abuses in Xinjiang
October 08, 2019 08:47
The United States has
blacklisted 28 Chinese companies from purchasing any American products
for being implicated in human rights violations and other abuses in
China's Xinjiang region.
The US Department of Commerce said the action
constricts the export of items subject to the Export Administration
Regulations (EAR) to entities that have been implicated in human rights
violations and abuses in China's campaign targeting Uighurs and other
predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous
Region.
"The US Government and Department of Commerce cannot and will
not tolerate the brutal suppression of ethnic minorities within China,'
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said.
"This action will ensure that
our technologies fostered in an environment of individual liberty and
free enterprise are not used to repress defenseless minority
populations," he said.
Located in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and
throughout China, these entities have all been implicated in the
implementation of China's campaign of repression, mass arbitrary
detention, and high-technology surveillance, the Department of Commerce
said.
The entity list identifies persons or organisations reasonably
believed to be involved, or to pose a significant risk of being or
becoming involved, in activities contrary to the national security or
foreign policy interests of the US.
The EAR imposes additional license
requirements on, and limits the availability of most license exceptions
for, exports, re-exports, and transfers (in-country) to listed entities.
The blacklisting of Chinese entities comes as the US and China will
hold the next round of trade negotiations on October 10, as the two
major trading powers are trying to end their bruising trade war.
The
American side would be led by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer
and Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin.
The Chinese delegation will be
led by Vice Premier Liu He.
China and the US have been negotiating a
trade deal for more than 10 months now.
President Donald Trump wants
to reach an agreement with the Chinese that reduces the massive trade
imbalance between the two countries, which last year climbed to over $
539 billion.
He also wants China to address the issue of theft of
intellectual properties of US companies and their forced coercion inside
China.
The Trump administration had first imposed tariffs on Chinese
imports last year in a bid to win concessions from China, which
responded with tit-for-tat tariffs.
The escalating dispute between the
world's two largest economies has depressed stock prices and poses a
threat to the global economy.
Both sides have made conciliatory
gestures ahead of the next round of talks, but a deal remains elusive.
The US postponed a further tariff hike on Chinese goods, and China
lifted punitive duties on soybeans.
The move helps both American farmers
and Chinese pig breeders, who use soy as feed and are struggling with a
devastating outbreak of African swine fever. -- PTI