US imposes sanctions on 8 Chinese entities behind targeted surveillance

The US has imposed sanctions on eight Chinese companies, including drone-maker DJI, for making tech that spies on Uyghur Muslims.

The Treasury Department identified the companies “pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13959, as amended by E.O. 14032.”

The eight companies were found to have been involved in supporting “the biometric surveillance and tracking of ethnic and religious minorities in China, particularly the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang.”

US Citizens have now been barred from doing business with these eight companies. The Treasury Department’s actions have highlighted how “private” Chinese companies end up doing what the Chinese government wants even if it comes to the unlawful persecution and surveillance of ethnic and religious minorities.

The companies identified were Cloudwalk Technology Co., Ltd., Dawning Information Industry Co., Ltd., Leon Technology Company Limited, Megvii Technology Limited, Netposa Technologies Limited, SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd., Xiamen Meiya Pico Information Co., Ltd., and Yitu Limited.

Since 2016, the CCP has established “thousands of neighborhood police kiosks and ubiquitous placement of surveillance cameras, collection of biometric data for identification purposes, and more intrusive monitoring of internet use” in Xinjiang.

According to the data, China has detained about a million to 1.8 million “Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups, including ethnic Kazakhs and others, in ‘reeducation’ centers.”

The companies identified were all involved in these mass surveillance projects. They built tech for the Chinese government to spy on ethnic minorities and detain them in areas with strict surveillance.

Cloudwalk Technology Co., Ltd.

Cloudwalk was found to be operating or to have operated in the surveillance tech sector of the “economy of the PRC.” The company developed Facial Recognition software which was designed to “track and surveil ethnic minority groups.”

The main focus was to alert the Chinese authorities if too many Uyghurs, Tibetans, etc., gathered.

It was discovered that Cloudwalk’s mass surveillance technology was also being used in Zimbabwe through an agreement made in 2018.

The company had moved the surveillance data back to its China office for better facial recognition and decision-making of Black people.

Dawning Information Industry Co., Ltd.

Dawning Info was found to be working on the Defense sector of China and owns “or controls, directly or indirectly” Xinjiang Sugon Cloud Computing Co., Ltd. (Sugon), a company that has worked or still works in surveillance technology.

It also provides data systems to Chinese National Defense and Security operations, including for the development of the Chinese Army’s nuclear and hypersonic weapons-testing and its joint combat command system.

Dawning’s fully owned subsidiary Sugon, made the “Urumqi Cloud Computing Center” which is used to monitor people living in Xinjiang and help “Police” make preemptive arrests or raids.

Leon Technology Company Limited

Leon Technology is also behind China’s surveillance programs in the Xinjiang region. It is “one of the key companies” behind China’s “Integrated Joint Operations Platform,” an entire surveillance system in Xinjiang.

Megvii Technology Limited

Megvii like the ones above also operates in surveillance technology, and owns or controls Beijing Kuangshi Technology Co., Ltd. (Kuangshi).

Kaungshi is a software side company that has developed Customized software which is designed to conduct surveillance activities of ethnic minorities.

One of their software could recognize whether a person belongs to the Uyghur group and alerts government officials.

Megvii’s facial recognition software is being used in Pakistan and Thailand as well. Although, it isn’t mentioned whether Megvii is sending back data to China from the two countries, but like Cloudwalk is in Zimbabwe, Megvii might also be doing the same to better “understand” the people of Thailand and various ethnicities of Pakistan.

Netposa Technologies Limited

Netpose controls or owns SenseNets Technology Ltd. (SenseNets).

SenseNets is a company that builds facial recognition databases, and combines them with GPS data and the Uyghur individual’s personal information to further track them and develop a profile.

“At one point, SenseNets was tracking over 2.5 million individuals in Xinjiang.”

SZ DJI Technology Co., Ltd.

SZ DJI is a Chinese drone-maker which has been actively making technology for the Chinese government to use on the surveillance of Xinjiang’s Uyghurs.

SZ DJI has provided drones to the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau – To surveil on Uyghurs – Which was already designated in 2020 for being a foreign “person responsible for, or complicit in, or that has directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse.”

Xiamen Meiya Pico Information Co., Ltd.

Meiya Pico is operating and has operated in the surveillance technology sector of the Chinese government. Meiya Pico was found to have developed a mobile application designed to “track image and audio files, location data, and messages on ordinary citizens’ cellphones.”

The entity has also worked with other companies to build a “transcription and translation tool for the Uyghur language” so that the Chinese government can scan electronic devices for “criminal” content.

Xinjiang’s residents were required to download the app in 2018 so that the Chinese government can actively monitor them.

Yitu Limited

Yitu like all the others owns or controls a subsidiary, Shanghai Yitu Technology Co., Ltd. (Yitu).

Shanghai Yitu operates in the surveillance technology sector of the Chinese government.

The entity was found to have developed and developing facial recognition technology that “looks exclusively for Uyghurs and has been integrated into China’s rapidly expanding networks of surveillance cameras.”

Yitu has also established an overseas office to export the surveillance technology to foreign agencies.

China, the real-life Role-Playing Game where every Chinese but the CCP is an “NPC”

As a result of these findings, the US has barred Americans from purchasing or selling “any publicly traded securities, or any publicly traded securities that are derivative of such securities or are designed to provide investment exposure to such securities.”

All eight companies described in this article are on the Commerce Department’s Entity List.

Americans will no longer let their money be used to surveil on people unknown of what is happening to them, and for having different beliefs of what the Chinese government wants them to have.