U.S. flag and China’s flag flutter in winds at a hotel in Beijing Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in Beijing to press Chinese authorities to agree to peacefully resolve disputes with their smaller neighbors over competing territorial claims in the South China Sea. But as she began her meetings here, China questioned the stated neutrality of the United States. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
The United States Commerce Department has blacklisted a new set of Chinese firms with report of affiliation with the Communist Party Apparatus, a move seen as Washington’s clampdown on China-owned tech firms.
U.S. authorities made the move as part of their plan to stop the use of American technologies for quantum computing purposes, as it is believed it would promote the interest of the Chinese Communist party and “counter stealth and counter-submarine applications.”
The Commerce Department premised their decision on their fear of China’s “ability to break encryption or develop unbreakable encryption,” adding that many Chinese and Pakistani companies were added to the blacklist, in the wake of their alleged contribution to Pakistan’s nuclear pursuits or ballistic missile plan.
Tensions between the United States and the East, most especially China heightened when then U.S President, Donald Trump hardened his stance against Chinese interests, with the trajectory continuing even with a Joe Biden’s presidency.
President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping though may be going the diplomatic way in spite of the suspicion between the two countries, as they both conducted a virtual summit to talk about the ever-growing conflicts between the U.S. and China and the potential alignment between the two countries in addressing the global crisis and oil reserves. But it appears the United States Government approach towards pressuring Beijing has not been largely successful.
Biden’s administration had in April added seven Chinese enterprises to the originally mentioned list, after accusing them of associating with the Communist Party Apparatus, a move that played a prominent role in heightening the restrictions on U.S. firms, as they too were prohibited from dealing with these companies.
The U.S. Commerce Department had then accused the companies of conducting their businesses with supercomputing, while they assisted the Chinese government to digitalize military capacity and modernizing weapons of mass destruction.
But the Chinese authorities through its Foreign Ministry fought back, stating that Beijing “will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.”
A spokesperson for the Chinese government Zhao Lijian , indicted the U.S. of having “repeatedly generalized national security,” while having “abuse state power” to repress China’s technology firms.
“Global trade and commerce should support peace, prosperity, and good-paying jobs, not national security risks,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo addressed the issue.
With these new additions, we now have 27 foreign enterprises and personnel added to the Department blacklist, and they includedChinese businesses, different entities located in Pakistan, Japan, and Singapore.
Ayoola Faseyi, an Abuja based Journalist with interest in Technology and Politics. He is a versatile writer with articles in many renowned News Journals. He is the Co-Founder of media brand, The Vent Republic.
