Earlier this week, the US blacklisted over 28 Chinese firms and government organizations although the US-China trade war negotiation is getting closer. Out of them, eight are AI firms.
Given the situation, the US Commerce Department argued that the foregoing companies and organizations have violated human rights. In addition, the government is under the impression that the firms have acted against US foreign policy interest.
It is indubitable that the decision disappoints many parties, specifically the firms. One of the companies, SenseTime, expressed its disappointment over the decision. To its disappointment, one of its tech partners, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has to review the partnership due to the novel Entity List.
“We are deeply disappointed with this decision by the US Department of Commerce. We will work closely with all relevant authorities to fully understand and resolve the situation,” stated SenseTime through its spokesperson.
On the other hand, MIT wants to abide by the laws. That said, MIT opts to follow the regulations and make some adjustments if necessary.
“MIT has long had a robust export controls function that pays careful attention to export control regulations and compliance. MIT will review all existing relationships with organisations added to the US Department of Commerce’s Entity List, and modify any interactions, as necessary.”
Elsewhere, other companies that US blacklisted, video surveillance firm Hikvision and image recognition corporate Megvii, said that the US have mistaken them. In their defense, the companies’ aim is solely for the advancement of technology and, in due course, there is no malicious intent besides that.
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Problems Caused by the Blacklist
Speaking of the blacklist, the neoteric phenomenon is not the first. Accordingly, the US also blacklisted Chinese firms back then and the ‘victims’ were Huawei and ZTE.
At that time, the subsequent events were indelibly chaotic for the event deepened the US-China trade war progression. To date, the recent blacklists might enormously, negatively affect the upcoming negotiations, identical to what had happened in the past.
Responding to the blacklist, China is planning to strengthen visa restrictions for US individuals who are part of anti-China groups. Apart from that, China will also prioritize the protection for its companies. Thus, US recent acts will surely affect this week’s negotiations.
Furthermore, US decisions would also backfire as China might potentially develop what it lacks in terms of technology that it still has to import from the US. For instance, Huawei and Alibaba had just recently introduced their advanced semiconductors, in which China used to have no capability of producing them by themselves.
If there were about to come true, this would be a massive nightmare for the US. In the past, US companies have warned the government that such actions might be backfire in the long run. As an example, Google once expressed the similar thought when the news pertaining to Huawei’s Hongmeng development spread.
Also Read: China Robustly Prepares for Facing Possible Trade War Settlement
