US commerce department adds 77 Chinese entities to the sanctions list

“China’s corrupt and bullying behavior both inside and outside its borders harms U.S. national security interests, undermines the sovereignty of our allies and partners, and violates the human rights and dignity of ethnic and religious minority groups.   Commerce will act to ensure that America’s technology — developed and produced according to open and free-market principles — is not used for malign or abusive purposes,” commerce secretary Wilbur Ross said.

“China actively promotes the reprehensible practices of forced labor, DNA collection and ubiquitous surveillance to repress its citizens in Xinjiang and elsewhere,” he added.  

Over the last two years the Trump administration has added nearly 50 entities to the Entity List for  supporting the Chinese Communist Party’s policy of ethnic cleansing. 

The new entity list will apply US sanctions to cover the whole of China, including Tibet, and to the authoritarian regimes to which these practices are being exported, a commerce department release said.

“The additions also include entities that have contributed to China’s militarisation of disputed outposts in the South China Sea, unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea, and intimidation and coercion of other coastal states lawfully accessing and developing offshore marine resources.

“Commerce added additional persons participating in China’s campaign of malign technology acquisition efforts, including for theft of US trade secrets, and the support of research and development, and production of advanced weapon systems, in support of the People’s Liberation Army’s destabilising military modernisation efforts,” Ross said.