Trump Administration Blacklists Dozens Of Companies With Chinese Ties For “Theft,” “Militarization,” and “Human Rights Abuses”

Over the last several days, the Trump Administration announced that it is adding 77 companies and groups, 60 of which have Chinese links, to Commerce Department’s “Entities List.” Four major Chinese companies were sanctioned specifically for their part in enabling human rights violations by the Chinese government: China’s leading computer chip producer, SMIC; the world’s largest drone manufacturer, DJI; AGCU Scientech; and Kuang-Chi Group. Other companies were included for various actions endangering U.S. interests and national security, such as “militarization and unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea,” “theft of U.S. trade secrets,” and “wide-scale human rights abuses.” The addition to the “Entities List” will essentially blacklist these companies in American export commerce. Any American companies who wish to sell products to these blacklisted companies must now apply for a specific license allowing them to do so.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a statement in which he said,

“The United States will use all countermeasures available, including actions to prevent (Chinese) companies and institutions from exploiting U.S. goods and technologies for malign purposes.”

INBOX: Statement from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the new sanctions raised against four CCP linked companies and institutions pic.twitter.com/0lg0Hut8ai

— Christian Datoc (@TocRadio) December 18, 2020

 Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said of the actions,

“We will not allow advanced U.S. technology to help build the military of an increasingly belligerent adversary.  Between SMIC’s relationships of concern with the military industrial complex, China’s aggressive application of military civil fusion mandates and state-directed subsidies, SMIC perfectly illustrates the risks of China’s leverage of U.S. technology to support its military modernization.”

Perhaps the biggest blow was dealt to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), which The Wall Street Journal describes as China’s “national champion that has received billions of dollars in state backing,” and which is allegedly linked to the Chinese military. Commerce Secretary Ross said of SMIC,

“Entity List restrictions are a necessary measure to ensure that China, through its national champion SMIC, is not able to leverage U.S. technologies to enable indigenous advanced technology levels to support its destabilizing military activities.”

According to a Reuters report,

“The U.S. Commerce Department said the action against SMIC stems from Beijing’s efforts to harness civilian technologies for military purposes and evidence of activities between SMIC and Chinese military industrial companies of concern.”

In September, the Commerce Department said that suppliers of certain equipment to SMIC would be required to apply for export licenses due to an “unacceptable risk” that the equipment would be used for military purposes. Then in November, the Defense Department placed SMIC on a different blacklist containing alleged Chinese military companies, which essentially banned U.S. investors from buying shares in the company starting next year.

The Wall Street Journal reported,

“A senior Commerce Department official told the Journal the policy was designed to prevent SMIC from using U.S. technology to produce the most cutting-edge chips for advanced military applications such as drones, military aircraft and exoskeletons.

“We’re taking this action to address a national-security concern by using a very targeted action that we believe will hopefully begin to move SMIC in a better direction,” the official said, adding that the department has been communicating with SMIC to address its concerns.”

However, Trump Administration naysayers have raised questions about whether the move against SMIC and other Chinese companies will have the intended effect. Former Commerce Department official William Reinsch said,

“It’s a nice (public relations) line: ‘We’re putting it on this bad guys’ list. As a practical matter … it doesn’t change anything.”

And Congressman Michael McCaul, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs committee likewise expressed hesitations:

“I have concerns it undermines the intent, and may create an exception for malign actors to evade U.S. export controls.”

Dan Wang, a technology analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, although admitting that the “Commerce’s entity list designations have had uneven effects,” said he believes that the blacklisting of SMIC will be effective and that “SMIC is likely to suffer more rather than less given its dependence on U.S.-origin equipment.”

Since taking office in January of 2017, President Trump has added more than 300 Chinese entities to the export blacklist. The Trump Administration has taken a tough stance against China through tariffs on goods harvested and produced in regions utilizing Uighur slave labor and harshly criticizing the Chinese government for what is being called a genocide of the Uighur Muslims. Regarding COVID-19, the United States is not the only country to conclude that China falsified data on cases and deaths in Wuhan and the country at large, which contributed to the severity of the pandemic as countries tried to respond to the virus with faulty information. President Trump has specifically criticized China’s decision to ban travel from Wuhan to the rest of China while simultaneously allowing travel from Wuhan to the rest of the world as the disease began to spread.

While President Trump continues to put pressure on the Chinese government, one can’t help but wonder if a Biden Administration would be as tough on China, especially considering the ongoing investigations into the connections that his son, Hunter, has with the country. But that’s an entirely different article that will probably be censored like so many on the subject have been.