US Biden administration blacklists 37 Chinese companies

Washington/ Beijing: US Biden administration has blacklisted 37 Chinese companies. It includes companies in genetic technology, cloud computing and arms manufacturing. There was a strong reaction from China to this US action. China’s foreign ministry accused the US administration of wrongly targeting Chinese companies.

Moreover, the United States and Western countries had warned of serious consequences due to China’s cooperation with Russia in the Ukraine conflict. After this warning, two senior agencies of the United States blamed China for the issue of Coronavirus. After that, the US indicated to take more aggressive steps against China by blacklisting Chinese companies.

The US Department of Commerce issued a ‘trade blacklist’ on Thursday. 37 Chinese companies have been included in this blacklist. The names of the companies ‘BGI’ from the genetic technology field and ‘Insper’ in the cloud computing field are mentioned in that. Apart from that, it was revealed that the companies supporting Iran, Pakistan and Myanmar are also involved in modernising China’s defence forces and producing weapons.

Furthermore, companies that threaten US national security or concern foreign policy objectives are blacklisted. Thea Kendler, a senior officer of the Department of Commerce, justified the action and said that the transactions of these companies are thoroughly investigated. In the Department of Commerce statement, the company ‘BGI Research’ has been specially mentioned. The US administration suspected that this company was assisting in the extensive surveillance campaign by the Chinese Communist regime. It has also been mentioned that there is a risk that the genetic information obtained from this company will be used for China’s military programs.

Former US President Donald Trump had openly launched a trade war against China and started taking action against big Chinese companies. The Americans welcomed this action by Trump. Many countries of the world, including US allies, have taken aggressive steps against Chinese companies.

Considering this response, Joe Biden, who succeeded Trump, was forced to continue the action against China. The Biden administration has decided to ban and blacklist several leading Chinese companies, including TikTok. The new action is also a part of it. Some analysts claim that this action by the Biden administration is due to China’s increasing moves against Taiwan and its closeness with Russia.

Meanwhile, China has released strong criticism against the action taken by the US. The United States seems to be looking for reasons to kill Chinese companies. The United States should abandon its ideological prejudices. Harassment of Chinese companies should be stopped immediately. China will take appropriate measures to protect its companies, said Mao Ning, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

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