US adds Chinese tech giants to the list of military partners

US adds Chinese tech giants to the list of military partners

The US Department of Defense has been the Chinese technology company Tencent, known for its social media and gaming platforms, as well as CATL, the world's largest manufacturer of batteries, on a list of companies that are allegedly working with the military of Chinas.

consequences of the list

Admission to the list of the Pentagon does not immediately lead to sanctions. Nevertheless, this could affect the reputation of the companies concerned and inhibit their business progress, especially if they want to do business in the United States. On Tuesday, Tencent's shares, the owner of the Chinese Super app Wechat, fell by 6.5 % in Hong Kong, while the Catl shares listed in Shenzhen add more than 3 %.

background of the list

Tencent and Catl joined the dozens of other alleged Chinese military companies, which, according to the Ministry of Defense, are directly or indirectly active in the United States. This information comes from a Announcement , which was published on Monday in the Federal Register.

strategy of the Pentagon

The Pentagon expressed that The annual update of the so-called 1260H list is an "important continuous contribution" to emphasize and counteract China's strategy of the "military-civilian fusion". The aim of this strategy is to develop the most technologically advanced military power in the world by reducing the barriers between the civil research and economic sector and the armed forces.

reactions of the companies concerned

In a statement to CNN, Tencent described his inclusion in the list as "error". A company spokesman said: "We are not a military company or supplier. In contrast to sanctions or export controls, this listing has no effect on our business. We will still work with the Ministry of Defense to clear out any misunderstandings."

The technology conflict between the USA and China

The technology conflict between Washington and Beijing has worsened this month before the inauguration of US President Donald Trump. Last week, Beijing announced that it is planning to limit the export of technologies that are needed to extract minerals that are decisive for the growth of the global electric vehicle industry.

restrictions by the bid administration

In December, the outgoing bidding administration imposed new export controls for semiconductors produced in the USA, in which Washington fears that Beijing could use them to produce the next generation of weapons and AI systems. The US Ministry of Trade said that the goal of these restrictions is to slow China's development of advanced AI tools that can be used in the war and to sub-mining the country's semi-master industry. This is regarded as a threat to the national security of the United States and its allies.

modernization of the Chinese military forces

Since his takeover in 2012, China's top guide XI Jinping has initiated extensive reforms to transform the Chinese military into a world-class combat strength. A key area of this modernization initiative was to better integrate the country's private sector and defense industry by shaping resources, talents and the latest technologies.

The vision of XI Jinping

The efforts to reduce the barriers between the military and the civilian sectors of China go back to the 1990s. However, the strategy of the military-civil merger was increasingly promoted under XI Jinping and raised a national strategy in 2014 as part of the vision of the leader to transform China into an economic, technological and military superpower.

cnns Hassan Tayir contributed to this report.