A lot of Chinese companies have been facing serious pressure due to the Biden administration, as it claims that they could undermine US national security.
On Wednesday, a number of Chinese companies were added to a trade blacklist by the US Commerce Department, the reason being that some of the companies have supported the modernisation of China’s army. This decision was taken by the US officials as an effort to prevent emerging US technologies from being used for quantum computing efforts which can be used to help support China’s military, such as “counter-stealth and counter-submarine applications.”
“China’s ability to break encryption or develop unbreakable encryption,” were also the concerns that the Commerce Department cited. They also mentioned that many entities were added to the list from China and Pakistan, as they were contributing to Pakistan’s nuclear activities or ballistic missile program.
The tensions and problems between the United States and China aren’t new, they have been there since Donald Trump was the President and now they have continued to simmer under President Joe Biden. Even though recently there was a virtual summit with President Xi Jinping and the previous collaboration on the climate crisis and oil reserves, his administration has helped a little to bring down the pressure on Beijing.
The Biden administration added seven Chinese corporations with military ties to a list that prevents US companies from doing business with them in April. The Commerce Department said at the time that the companies worked in the field of supercomputing and had aided the Chinese government in modernising its military or working on weapons of mass destruction programmes.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday blasted the new sanctions, saying that the country “will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.”
Zhao Lijian, a Chinese government spokesman, accused the US of “repeatedly generalising national security” and “abusing state power” to restrict Chinese businesses.
The US Commerce Department has added 27 foreign businesses and persons to its trade blacklist. Other targets were headquartered in Pakistan, Japan, and Singapore, in addition to the Chinese enterprises.
In a statement, US Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo said, “Global trade and commerce should foster peace, prosperity, and good-paying jobs, not national security risks.”
