The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Monday (January 6) that it has added leading Chinese gaming and social media companies Tencent, as well as battery manufacturer CATL, to its blacklist of entities cooperating with the Chinese military. Currently, the list includes over 100 Chinese companies.
According to a document released on Monday, the list has been expanded to include Tencent, the parent company of WeChat, battery company CATL, chip maker ChangXin Storage, IoT solutions provider Shanghai Youyuan Communication, and drone manufacturer DJI.
According to Section 1260H of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, the Department of Defense annually updates the list of “Chinese Military Companies” (CMC) operating in or with ties to the United States.
The U.S. Department of Defense stated, “Updating Section 1260H’s list of ‘Chinese Military Companies’ is an important ongoing effort to highlight and counter China’s military-civil fusion strategy. China’s military-civil fusion strategy supports the modernization goals of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by ensuring access to advanced technology and expertise developed by Chinese companies, universities, and research projects, which may appear as civilian entities. Section 1260H directs the Department of Defense to begin identifying contributors to military-civil fusion projects operating in the United States.”
Being included in this blacklist does not carry specific sanctions in itself, but it often hinders U.S. companies from engaging in transactions with the designated entities.
Some Chinese companies have also been successfully removed from the U.S. Department of Defense’s blacklist, including Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation. Six Chinese companies were also removed from the list on Monday.
The details of the list published on Monday are as follows:
Source: Federal Register. (Epoch Times compilation)