US Imposes Sanctions on Seven Chinese High Technology Companies

According to Commerce officials, the Chinese companies' supercomputers are used by the military.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported Thursday that it decided to add seven Chinese supercomputer companies to its so-called economic "blacklist" "for engaging in activities that are contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests."

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According to Department representatives, the seven companies are "involved in building supercomputers used by Chinese military actors."

National Supercomputing Centers in Jinan, Shenzhen, Wuxi, and Zhengzhou, along with Sunway Microelectronics, Tianjin Phytium Information Technology, and Shanghai High-Performance Integrated Circuit Design Center, make up the list.

"Supercomputing capabilities are vital to the development of many, perhaps nearly all, modern weapons and national security systems, such as nuclear weapons and hypersonic weapons," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

"The Commerce Department will use the full scope of its authorities to prevent China from leveraging U.S. technologies to support these destabilizing military modernization efforts," she concluded.