U.S. WIDENS DRAGNET BEYOND HUAWEI
Up to 5 Chinese video surveillance firms may be included in tech blacklist
THE United States is considering cutting off the flow of vital American technology to as many as five Chinese companies including Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co, widening the dragnet beyond Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, to include world leaders in video surveillance.
The US was deliberating whether to add Hikvision, Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co and several unidentified others to a blacklist that barred them from US components or software, said people familiar with the matter.
There was concern that Hikvision’s or Dahua’s cameras, which come with facial recognition capabilities, could be employed in espionage, said the people.
Such a move would escalate tensions with China and raises questions about whether the US is going after more of the country’s corporate champions.
Trump’s administration last week barred Huawei from American technology, a move that pummelled shares in US chipmakers from Qualcomm Inc to Intel Corp, and threatens to dampen global economic growth and disrupt the rollout of critical next-generation wireless networks.
Shares of Hikvision and Dahua plunged in Shenzhen after the New York Times first reported on the potential ban.
It is unclear which other companies would join Huawei on the so-called Entities List, which prohibits the sale of American technology without a special licence.
Chinese firms such as Hikvision and Dahua are the world’s largest purveyors of surveillance hardware, while others in China specialise in image processing software.
“We hope the company receives a fair and just treatment,” said Hikvision’s secretary of the board Huang Fanghong.
The latest threat will elevate fears in Beijing that President Donald Trump’s ultimate goal is to contain China, triggering a Cold War between the world’s biggest economies.
In addition to a trade fight that’s rattled global markets, Washington has pressured allies and foes alike to avoid using Huawei for fifth-generation networks that will power everything from self-driving cars to robot surgery, forming the backbone of a modern economy.
At the heart of Trump’s concerted campaign is suspicion that Chinese firms aid Beijing in global espionage while spearheading its ambitions of becoming a technology superpower.
The Justice Department accuses Huawei also of willfully violating sanctions on Iran, and last year engineered the arrest of the eldest daughter of Huawei’s billionaire founder.
Huawei has denied those allegations.