The Biden administration is restricting dozens of organizations from obtaining U.S.-based technology to further modernize the Chinese military. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI |
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Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The Biden administration is restricting dozens of organizations from obtaining U.S.-based technology to further modernize the Chinese military.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security announced two new rules that take aim at mostly Chinese tech organizations as well as several Russian entities. The first rule adds 36 organizations to an "entity list" that restricts their licensing abilities, making it difficult for them to access commodities and technology.
Most of the organizations are based in China, with one based in Japan.
"Today we are building on the actions we took in October to protect U.S. national security by severely restricting the [People's Republic of China's] ability to leverage artificial intelligence, advanced computing, and other powerful, commercially available technologies for military modernization and human rights abuses," said Alan Estevez, under secretary for industry and security at the Department of Commerce.
The rule is particularly targeted at the PRC's work in using artificial intelligence to continue inflicting human rights violations on its people while bolstering its military. Twenty-one of the entities are involved in researching and developing microchip technology for China's defense department. Thirty attempted to obtain U.S.-based technology to assist China.
The second rule will remove 25 Chinese organizations from its "unverified list" due to their completion of a stringent verification process. The rule also adds nine Russian organizations to the entity list for failing to complete this process, called "End-Use Checks."
The action against Russian entities is in response to its continued war in Ukraine. The rule will hamstring Russia's ability to obtain components needed to use drones the country acquired from Iran.
Two Chinese organizations are being sanctioned for providing support to Russia's war efforts.
"When a host government facilitates a check that results in our ability to confirm a company's bona fides, the company comes off the Unverified List, as demonstrated by today's 25 removals of Chinese companies from our restricted party lists," said Matthew S. Axelrod, assistant secretary for export enforcement at the Department of Commerce.
"But when a host government persists in preventing a check, there are real consequences, as demonstrated by today's addition of nine Russian parties to the Entity List."
