U.S. bans trade with Chinese surveillance firms

The United States late Monday blacklisted several Chinese companies that make surveillance technology used to persecute religious minorities. The Commerce Department barred 28 companies from buying technology from U.S. businesses without government approval.

What affect will the trade ban have? While it will not directly hit the Chinese government, the blacklisting is the United States’ most concrete move so far against mass persecution in China. The Chinese government is holding as many as 1 million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in so-called reeducation camps. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the ban will ensure that U.S. technologies “are not used to repress defenseless minority populations.”

Dig deeper: Read my report on China’s extensive monitoring of minority Muslims and others in the Xinjiang region.