COMMERCE AND TREASURY BLACKLIST MORE CHINESE ENTITIES
The U.S. Department of Commerce has added China's Academy of Military Medical Sciences and 11 affiliated biotechnology research institutes to its export blacklist for their role in helping the PLA develop "brain-control" weapons. "China is choosing to use these technologies to pursue control over its people and its repression of members of ethnic and religious minority groups," said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. China is also using biotech for "gene editing, human performance enhancement [and] brain machine interfaces," said Michael Orlando, head of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center. Separately, the Treasury Department put DJI, the world's largest drone manufacturer, and 7 others firms on the "Chinese military-industrial complex companies" list for facilitating surveillance in Xinjiang. American investors are banned from investing in the now sixty or so PRC entities on Treasury's blacklist. "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 a Treasury official. (Financial Times, December 16, 2021)
HUAWEI DOCS PROVIDE DIRECT LINK TO CHINA'S SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS
The Washington Post has analyzed more than 100 Huawei marketing presentations, including 3000 or so slides on surveillance products Huawei created in partnership with another company. The slides underscore the company's direct role in five types of activities: voice recognition analysis, detention center monitoring, location tracking of political individuals of interest, police surveillance in Xinjiang, and use facial recognition to help corporations track their employees and customers. Some of the surveillance products mentioned are available in Huawei's online catalog, while others have been removed but can be found in government procurement documents. In the presentations, Huawei explains how its products help governments monitor individuals of interest, identify them by voice, manage ideological reeducation, monitor labor schedules for prisoners, and help stores track shoppers. (Washington Post, December 14, 2021)
WASHINGTON BUILDS NEW SOFTWARE TOOL TO GAME BEIJING
U.S. military commanders have a new software tool to help predict how China will react to U.S. actions in the region like military sales, military activity, and Congressional visits to Taiwan. During a visit to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks was briefed on the new computer-based system, which calculates "strategic friction." The new software will allow U.S. officials to look forward at planned actions as far as four months in advance. (The Standard, December 16, 2021)
UYGHUR FORCED LABOR BILL RECEIVES OVERWHELMING BIPARTISAN SUPPORT
In a rare, nearly unanimous bipartisan vote, the U.S. Congress has passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act to punish Beijing for its genocide of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. President Biden is expected to sign the bill, which would ban all imports from Xinjiang unless the firm can provide "clear and convincing evidence" that they were not made with forced labor. Human rights activists say the new law will impose the first substantive costs that Beijing has ever faced for its atrocities in Xinjiang. Major corporations like Nike and Coca Cola had lobbied against the legislation, claiming it will harm U.S. suppliers. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was the only member of Congress to vote against the bill. (Axios, December 16, 2021)
OUTSPOKEN EDITOR OF TOP CPC TABLOID RETIRES
Hu Xijin, the 61-year-old editor-in-chief of the CPC tabloid Global Times and China's top "wolf warrior" on foreign social media, has announced his immediate retirement. "I have retired and my new role is Global Times special commentator. I will continue to speak on Twitter. I know that many Western people don't like me, but after all, I am one of the leading influencers in China's public opinion sector," Hu told his 450,000 followers. Hu has championed Chinese president Xi Jinping's tightening grip on domestic media and regularly attacks reports and comments he deems unfair to China. In November, for instance, as international concerns about her safety mounted following her allegations of sexual misconduct against China's former vice premier, Hu released a video of tennis star Peng Shuai visiting a Beijing restaurant with her coach. (Kyodo News, December 17, 2021)
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