Pentagon lists twenty top companies as owned or backed by Chinese military

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent (Worthy News) – The US Defense Department has published a list of twenty major companies, including Huawei, that it has determined are owned or backed by the Chinese military, BBC News reported Thursday. As a result of this determination, the US may apply new sanctions against the companies listed.

The US Defense Department is legally required to track companies “owned or controlled” by China’s People’s Liberation Army that operates in the US. According to BBC News, the new list was published “in order to inform congressional committees, US businesses, investors and other potential partners of Chinese firms about the role such firms may play in transferring sensitive technology to the Chinese military.”

The list reportedly includes video surveillance firm Hikvision, China Telecoms, China Mobile, and AVIC. Moreover, the list is likely to grow, BBC News said.

The Pentagon has recently been under pressure from both Democrat and Republican Senators to publish an updated list of companies linked to China. In November US senators Tom Cotton and Chuck Schumer wrote to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross expressing their concern about exporting sensitive US technology to Chinese firms. In their letter the Senators asked for updated reviews of US policies that are required under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 and the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, BBC News said.

Senators asked the Commerce Department to investigate whether China has stolen US technology with military application and whether Chinese firms are using emerging civilian technologies for military application. The Senators also asked why the Commerce Department had not promptly completed the reviews mandated by law.

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