U.S. imposes trade restrictions on two Chinese firms over human rights

The United States added two Chinese companies to a trade restriction list on Tuesday for allegedly enabling human rights violations as President Joe Biden kept up the pressure on Beijing in the waning days of his administration.

The Commerce Department, which oversees export policy, added

Zhejiang Uniview Technologies Co., Ltd. to the entity list, "because it enables human rights violations, including high-technology surveillance targeted at the general population, Uyghurs, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups," the agency said in a filing.

China's Beijing Zhongdun Security Technology Group Co., Ltd. was added for selling products that "enable China’s public security establishment to carry out human rights violations".

Uniview did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beijing Zhongdun Security could not be reached for comment.

The United States has in recent years used the entity list to punish Chinese companies it accuses of aiding in China's repression of Uyghur and other minority groups including Chinese video surveillance company Hikvision in 2019.

Being added to the entity list forces American suppliers of the targeted company to get a difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to them. Six other entities in Russia and Myanmar were also added on Tuesday.