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posted by janrinok on Friday December 17 2021, @04:42PM   Printer-friendly
from the here's-looking-at-YOU dept.

U.S. Cracks Down on Firms Said to Aid China's Repression of Minorities

The Biden administration said on Thursday that it would put limits on doing business with a group of Chinese companies and institutions it says are involved in misusing biotechnology to surveil and repress Muslim minorities in China and advancing Beijing's military programs.

In announcing one set of the moves, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said China was employing biotechnology and medical innovation "to pursue control over its people and its repression of members of ethnic and religious minority groups."

The administration said those efforts included the use of biometric facial recognition and large-scale genetic testing of residents 12 to 65 in the mostly Muslim region of Xinjiang.

China has used such technology to track and control the Uyghurs, a predominately Muslim ethnic group.

[...] In its announcement on Thursday, the Biden administration said Beijing was using advances in biotechnology to drive forward its military modernization. A senior administration official called out China's work to edit human genes for performance enhancement and create ways for human brains to connect more directly to machines.

Also caught in the crosshairs is the drone company DJI, for providing drones used by the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau to surveil Uyghurs, Megvii, which makes artificial intelligence and facial recognition software, and Dawning Information Industry (also known as Sugon), a manufacturer of supercomputers and provider of cloud-computing services.

See also: Disney under fire for 'Mulan' credits that thank Chinese groups linked to detention camps

Previously: Massive DNA Collection Campaign in Xinjiang, China
Massive DNA Collection Campaign Continues in Xinjiang, China
China Installs Surveillance App on Smartphones of Visitors to Xinjiang Region
DNA Databases in the U.S. and China are Tools of Racial Oppression
The Panopticon is Already Here: China's Use of "Artificial Intelligence"


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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday December 17 2021, @09:39PM (5 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday December 17 2021, @09:39PM (#1205936)

    My Senator loves to take credit for everybody else's work - this was the top item on his newsletter today:

    This Week in the Office of Senator Marco Rubio
    On Thursday, I spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the Senate’s passage of my Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act . The bill, which I first introduced with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and James McGovern (D-MA) in 2020, will ensure that goods made with slave labor from Uyghurs and others in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) do not enter the U.S. market. The legislation now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law. Read more here and watch the video here.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday December 17 2021, @10:11PM (4 children)

    by krishnoid (1156) on Friday December 17 2021, @10:11PM (#1205944)

    A prominent public figure that takes a public, unequivocal (for some definition of "slave labor") stand on a major foreign power's human rights issue, where that "credit" could easily come back to bite him in future foreign policy/soverignty discussions? That's pretty brave. Or pretty stupid. Or, in the rare case where one word works for both, foolhardy [youtu.be]. Good for him!

    • (Score: 4, Touché) by JoeMerchant on Friday December 17 2021, @10:23PM (3 children)

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Friday December 17 2021, @10:23PM (#1205949)

      He is big on talk short on memory. Ollie North really was the future of American politics.

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      🌻🌻 [google.com]
      • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Saturday December 18 2021, @10:36PM (2 children)

        by tangomargarine (667) on Saturday December 18 2021, @10:36PM (#1206247)

        "What's the news in politics this week, Ollie?"
        "Bad!"
        "Thanks, Ollie! Next, in local sports..."

        --
        "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
        • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday December 19 2021, @05:38AM (1 child)

          by JoeMerchant (3937) on Sunday December 19 2021, @05:38AM (#1206309)

          You must be new here.

          The answer, the only answer is: "I'm sorry sir, I don't recall."

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          🌻🌻 [google.com]
          • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Sunday December 19 2021, @06:48AM

            by tangomargarine (667) on Sunday December 19 2021, @06:48AM (#1206316)

            Way to ruin the joke. [youtube.com]

            --
            "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"