US blacklists seven Chinese companies over national security fears

The US Commerce Department on Thursday added seven Chinese supercomputing companies to its 'black list' due to national security concerns.

The department added Tianjin Phytium Information Technology, Shanghai High-Performance Integrated Circuit Design Center, Sunway Microelectronics, the National Supercomputing Center Jinan, the National Supercomputing Center Shenzhen, the National Supercomputing Center Wuxi and the National Supercomputing Center Zhengzhou to its blacklist.

According to CNBC, the seven entities were blacklisted for “building supercomputers used by China’s military actors, its destabilizing military modernization efforts, and/or weapons of mass destruction programs.”

“Supercomputing capabilities are vital for the development of many – perhaps almost all – modern weapons and national security systems, such as nuclear weapons and hypersonic weapons,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

“The Department of Commerce will use the full extent of its authorities to prevent China from leveraging U.S. technologies to support these destabilizing military modernization efforts,” she added.

US companies are restricted from exporting to the entities that have been blacklisted. These restrictions will take effect immediately.

It was but the latest complaint from the US government, which alleges that Chinese companies collect sensitive information for their national government.

The Chinese Communist Party has repeatedly denied the allegation, assuring that it does not engage in industrial espionage.