The US blacklists 23 more Chinese companies for suspected abuses in Xinjiang

The US Department of Commerce added 23 Chinese entities to its blacklist, including 14 it alleges “have enabled Beijing’s campaign of repression, mass detention, and high-technology surveillance” against ethnic and religious minorities in the northwest region of Xinjiang, where the US has accused the Chinese government of committing “genocide and crimes against humanity.”

It’s the fourth time since 2018 that the Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has added Chinese officials or companies to its Entity list. The designation restricts US companies from working with the firms, or selling goods and services to them without a specific license. Of the 23 companies added to the blacklist, the Commerce Department accused 14 of direct involvement in human rights abuses in Xinjiang, five of “directly supporting” the Chinese military’s “modernization programs,” and four of violating previous US sanctions by doing business with blacklisted companies.

“The Department of Commerce remains firmly committed to taking strong, decisive action to target entities that are enabling human rights abuses in Xinjiang or that use US technology to fuel China’s destabilizing military modernization efforts,” secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “We will continue to aggressively use export controls to hold governments, companies, and individuals accountable for attempting to access US-origin items for subversive activities in countries like China, Iran, and Russia that threaten US national security interests and are inconsistent with our values.”

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