The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on December 16th. identified eight Chinese technology firms pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13959, as amended by E.O. 14032. These eight entities actively support the biometric surveillance and tracking of ethnic and religious minorities in China, particularly the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.
As a result of today’s action, U.S. persons will be prohibited from purchasing or selling certain publicly traded securities connected with these entities, as described in E.O. 13959, as amended.
“Today’s action highlights how private firms in China’s defense and surveillance technology sectors are actively cooperating with the government’s efforts to repress members of ethnic and religious minority groups,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Treasury remains committed to ensuring that the U.S. financial system and American investors are not supporting these activities.”
The entities identified today are:
- Cloudwalk Technology Co., Ltd.
- Dawning Information Industry Co.Ltd.
- Leon Technology Company Limited
- Megvii Technology Limited
- Netposa Technologies Limited
- SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd.
- Xiamen Meiya Pico Information Co., Ltd.
- Yitu Limited.
TECHNOLOGY USED FOR SURVEILLANCE OF RELIGIOUS OR ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS
Beginning in 2016, Chen Quanguo, the then-newly appointed Communist Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, stepped up security and surveillance measures aimed at the Uyghur population in Xinjiang. Such actions included the installation of thousands of neighborhood police kiosks and ubiquitous placement of surveillance cameras, collection of biometric data for identification purposes, and more intrusive monitoring of internet use.
By some estimates, since 2017, Xinjiang authorities have arbitrarily detained between 1 million and 1.8 million Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups, including ethnic Kazakhs and others, in “reeducation” centers. On July 9, 2020, Chen Quanguo was designated pursuant to E.O. 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, for being a foreign person who is or has been a leader or official of an entity, including any government entity, that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in serious human rights abuse relating to the leader’s or official’s tenure.
The surveillance and tracking of ethnic and religious minorities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) continue to this day.
SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd.
SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd. (SZ DJI) operates or has operated in the surveillance technology sector of the economy of the PRC. SZ DJI has provided drones to the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, which are used to surveil Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The Xinjiang Public Security Bureau was previously designated in July 2020, pursuant to E.O. 13818, for being a foreign person responsible for, or complicit in, or that has directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse.
For identifying information on the entities identified today, click here.
For information related to the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex List, click here.
Source: US Treasury Press Release