The Biden Administration added 10 more Chinese companies to the U.S. economic blacklist as a result of alleged abuse of human rights and high-tech surveillance in Xinjiang, Reuters reported on July 8.
The blacklist additions come after the Chinese government was accused of detaining and forced labor of over 1 million Uyghur.
“We will continue to aggressively use export controls to hold governments, companies and individuals accountable for attempting to access U.S.-origin items for subversive activities in countries like China, Iran, and Russia that threaten U.S. national security interests and are inconsistent with our values,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Politico.
According to Reuters, sources from China deny that any wrongdoing has taken place in terms of genocide and forced labor in Xinjiang, saying that the policies in place are needed to weed out the religious extremists and separatists who attacked and created tension across predominantly Muslim ethnic Uyghurs and Han, one of China's large ethnic groups.
"The Chinese side will take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and rejects U.S. attempts to interfere in China's internal affairs," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin told Reuters.
The Uyghurs are one of 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities in China and reside in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China.
According to the Chinese government, the detention camps are to ensure adherence to Chinese Communist Party ideology. Inmates are imprisoned for a minimum of 12 months and depending on their adherence to Chinese ideology.
The Commerce Department has added more than 30 companies to the economic blacklist.
Usually, entity-listed companies have to apply for a license from the Commerce Department and often experience a difficult process when asking permission from U.S. suppliers to obtain items.
In June, the Commerce Department revealed that they would be adding five more companies to the economic blacklist "for accepting or utilizing forced labor in the implementation of the People’s Republic of China’s campaign of repression against Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region," Reuters reported.