A ferry boat passes a container ship docked at the Port of Oakland, California. — AFP file
The United States announced trade restrictions on Tuesday targeting eight companies, including two Chinese firms and several Russian entities, citing allegations of human rights abuses. Among the Chinese companies identified is Zhejiang Uniview Technologies, which US officials accuse of facilitating human rights violations such as the surveillance of Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups. The other Chinese firm named by the US Commerce Department is Beijing Zhongdun Security Technology Group, which is alleged to develop and sell products enabling public security authorities to commit rights violations. These businesses have been added to an "entity list," requiring US companies to obtain a license before exporting to them.
"Human rights abuses are contrary to the foreign policy interests of the United States," said Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez in a statement. He added that the inclusion of these companies on the entity list aims to "ensure that US technology is not used to enable human rights violations and abuses."
A spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry, Mao Ning, criticized the sanctions on Wednesday, calling them an "open and fearless suppression of Chinese high-tech companies under the guise of human rights." She stated, "This further exposes the falsehood that the US protects human rights, and the reality that it deprives the Chinese people of their development rights. Such ploys will never succeed." Mao Ning also said, "If the United States really cares about human rights, it should first address its own rights issues."
Attempts by AFP reporters to contact Beijing Zhongdun and Zhejiang Uniview were unsuccessful, with one call to Beijing Zhongdun ending abruptly after the reporter identified himself.
The US government and several Western countries have been critical of China's treatment of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang. Human rights groups claim that at least one million people, mostly Muslim minorities, have been detained in the region and subjected to various abuses, accusations that Beijing strongly denies. The Commerce Department also targeted two companies in Myanmar and two in Russia for their roles in supplying Myanmar's military with components used in aerial attacks against civilians. Additionally, two Russian entities were included for providing facial recognition technology to Moscow, which has been used to target peaceful protesters as part of Russia's mass surveillance system.
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