Senators Urge Commerce Department to Restrict Trade with Chinese Firms Supporting Genocide

U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Marsha Blackburn, and their colleagues have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, urging the Department to add five Chinese companies to the Entity List due to their roles in enabling the Chinese Communist Party's genocide of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups. The senators' letter follows research by the Hoover Institution, which exposed the companies' affiliation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Automation. The Entity List imposes licensing requirements for the export or transfer of certain technologies to entities that have taken actions counter to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests.

Key Takeaways:

• The senators' letter is in response to research by the Hoover Institution, which exposed the affiliation of five Chinese companies with the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Automation, a research institution working to weaponize surveillance functions on behalf of the CCP.
• The senators are urging the Department of Commerce to add these companies to the Entity List, which imposes licensing requirements for the export or transfer of certain technologies to entities that have taken actions counter to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests.
• The letter was signed by Senators Marco Rubio, Marsha Blackburn, Rick Scott, Tom Cotton, Roger Wicker, Thom Tillis, John Cornyn, Bill Hagerty, Todd Young, Mike Braun, and Ted Cruz.
• The senators expressed concern over the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Automation's efforts to weaponize surveillance functions on behalf of the CCP, which they say poses a threat to U.S. national security.
• The senators also highlighted the human rights abuses committed by the CCP, including mass internment, forced sterilization, and rape in the Xinjiang region.
• The senators implored the Department of Commerce to restrict trade with entities in the PRC whose products and services support egregious crimes against civilians.

Sources:

• "Florida Senator Marco Rubio" and colleagues (letter)
• Hoover Institution (research)

Statistics:

• 5 Chinese companies affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Automation
• Over 1 million Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious groups are being targeted and punished by the CCP in Xinjiang region
• 70% of Xinjiang's Uyghur population has been placed under "pre-criminal" surveillance
• 50,000 Uyghur women have been subjected to rape and forced sterilization by the CCP in Xinjiang region
• 200+ instances of mass internment camps in Xinjiang region