Entity List

Lenovo Quietly Remains Major Threat – And Their Products Are Everywhere

Posted on by China Tech Threat
2022 ended with notable momentum from the U.S. government targeting Chinese tech threats. As examples, YMTC was added to the Entity List and TikTok was banned on federal government devices. But as Roslyn Layton writes at Forbes, we can’t neglect a massive threat hiding in plain sight – the ubiquity of Lenovo equipment in state government and private sector IT systems. Approximately 900 U.S. municipalities and states use Lenovo products today. That’s a problem, Layton says, because “Lenovo is a textbook example of China’s techno-nationalist strategy to leverage its global companies for military gain.” It also has a long track record of abusing user security and privacy. As retired General James “Spider” Marks has written: “Lenovo has unmitigated access to… Read More

Bipartisan Group of Senators Pushes Commerce Department to Restrict China’s YMTC

Posted on by China Tech Threat
As Chinese military-backed chipmaker YMTC continues to depend on American technology to gain market share in the semiconductor sector, seven U.S. Senators have sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo characterizing the company as an “immediate threat” and urging it to be placed on the Commerce Department’s Entity List – meaning American firms would be banned from selling key technologies to YMTC. While senators including Bill Hagerty, Marco Rubio, and Mark Warner have long raised the dangers of YMTC and called for placement on the Entity List, this letter represents the most definitive and bipartisan statement from Congress to date on the issue, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senators John Cornyn, James Risch, and Mike Crapo joining Hagerty,… Read More

Is BIS Edging Closer to Putting YMTC on the Entity List?

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Is BIS Edging Closer to Putting YMTC on the Entity List? The Information reports that the U.S. Department of Commerce is weighing restrictions on the sale of semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME) to YMTC, China’s national champion semiconductor manufacturer known to have close ties with the Chinese military. These restrictions, which would also reportedly apply to other state-backed firms such as Hua Hong Semiconductor and ChangXin Memory Technologies, would deal a blow to YMTC’s ability to produce chips, and secure a victory for American national security. The rules, which reportedly take months to develop, would echo the decision the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) made in 2020 to place China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation on the Entity List… Read More

Trump Administration Publishes List of Chinese and Russian Companies with Military Ties

Posted on by China Tech Threat
The U.S. Department of Commerce published a list of Chinese and Russian companies with military ties on Monday. U.S. companies will be restricted from selling certain goods and technology to those named. The final list includes 103 entities, 14 fewer than on a draft obtained by Reuters in November. Fifty-eight are Chinese companies, 31 fewer than before. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the list will “assist exporters in screening their customers for military end users.” Only days before, the Department of Commerce added more than 60 Chinese companies to the Entity List, including China’s largest semiconductor maker, SMIC. “China’s corrupt and bullying behavior both inside and outside its borders harms U.S. national security interests,” Secretary Ross said in a statement… Read More