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China pledged to take 'necessary measures' to respond to the U.S. blacklisting of Chinese companies over their alleged role in abuses of its Uyghur people and other Muslim ethnic minorities.
The Commerce Ministry said the U.S. move constituted an 'unreasonable suppression of Chinese enterprises and a serious breach of international economic and trade rules.'
China will 'take necessary measures to firmly safeguard Chinese companies' legitimate rights and interests,' the ministry's statement said.
No details were given, but China has denied allegations of arbitrary detention and forced labor in the far western region of Xinjiang and increasingly responded to sanctions against companies and officials with its own bans on visas and financial links.
Uyghur detainees in a camp in Lop County, Xinjiang, in April 2017. The United States added 14 Chinese companies to its economic blacklist over alleged human rights abuses of Uyghur Muslims and high-tech surveillance in Xinjiang
Workers walk around a camp for Uyghurs Muslims in the Xinjiang region of China. The Commerce Department is punishing companies for their involvement in human rights abuses against Uyghurs
The U.S. Commerce Department said in a statement Friday that the electronics and technology firms and other businesses helped enable 'Beijing's campaign of repression, mass detention and high-technology surveillance' against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.'.
They include the China Academy of Electronics and Information Technology; Xinjiang Lianhai Chuangzhi Information Technology Co; Shenzhen Cobber Information Technology Co; Xinjiang Sailing Information Technology; Beijing Geling Shentong Information Technology; Shenzhen Hua'antai Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.; and Chengdu Xiwu Security System Alliance Co., Ltd.
The penalties prohibit Americans from selling equipment or other goods to the firms.
