Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The United States (US) decided to put SenseTime on the investment blacklist. This was done at the same time as an AI company specializing in facial recognition software made in China through its IPO in Hong Kong.
Washington says these actions concern human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. According to a Financial Times report from three sources, the decision is a package of sanctions against a number of countries to commemorate Human Rights Day.
SenseTime put the US Treasury Department on the list of ‘companies of the Chinese military industrial complex’, quoted Thursday (9/12/2021).
In June, President Joe Biden signed an executive order prohibiting people from investing in companies on the list. The move follows President Donald Trump-era decisions meant to tackle national security threats.
The Financial Times reported that the White House declined to comment on SenseTime and the sanctions. The Treasury Department did not respond to requests for comment.
SenseTime, according to the Financial Times, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This decision is likely to have an impact on US shareholders in SenseTime. For example, a US private equity firm with a 3% stake in Silver Lake agreed to lock up some of its shares after six months of the IPO.
Other names that have shares there are Fidelity and Qualcomm. HSBC is also the only western investment bank involved with the IPO.
Previously SenseTime has also been blacklisted by the US Department of Commerce or the 2019 entity list. This has also made a number of investors shy away after the company was added to the list.
The sanctions for SenseTime are the latest US effort to punish China for its repression of the more than 1 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. They have been subjected to detention and forced labor in camps in northwestern Xinjiang.
The Chinese side denies the allegation. They called the place an education camp.
US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman said Joe Biden would continue to target Xinjiang-related sanctions. While on whether the US would sue Chinese officials involved in policy, he said, “We have to consider every reasonable option”.
(npb/npb)
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