BeiGene and other China-based pharma companies have been nervously watching the Biden administration and its response to some companies in that region that have allegedly been involved with the Chinese military’s weapons programs and human rights violations.
Shares of BeiGene were surging this afternoon after the company escaped a blacklisting from the U.S. Department of Commerce on Thursday afternoon. BeiGene and other China-based pharma companies have been nervously watching the Biden administration and its response to some companies in that region that have allegedly been involved with the Chinese military’s weapons programs and human rights violations.
This afternoon, the Commerce Department unveiled a blacklist against 34 Chinese companies, most in the technology sector. In the biotechnology sector, no Chinese companies were singled out, however, the Commerce Department did accuse research institutes affiliated with the Chinese military of developing new forms of weaponry, including purported brain-control weaponry, CNBC first reported. The government’s announcement does not elaborate on the development of this kind of weaponry.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo said that biotechnology and medical innovation can save lives. But, she noted that the People’s Republic of China is “choosing to use these technologies to pursue control over its people.” That control also includes the repression of ethnic and religious minorities, specifically Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region.
“We cannot allow U.S. commodities, technologies, and software that support medical science and biotechnical innovation to be diverted toward uses contrary to U.S. national security,” Raimondo said in a statement. “The U.S. will continue to stand strong against efforts by the PRC and Iran to turn tools that can help humanity prosper into implements that threaten global security and stability.”
While brain control may sound far-fetched, over the past few years there have been concerns raised by U.S. government officials of the Chinese military’s programs aimed at enhancing the capabilities of soldiers through the use of CRISPR technology.
Last month, a Chinese professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark came under scrutiny for his undisclosed ties to the Chinese military. Prof. Guojie Zhang allegedly conducted genetic research with the military without revealing that relationship to his employer. Zhang’s research was related to extreme altitude and its relationship to brain damage. That is something of a concern for the People’s Liberation Army due to the number of high-altitude border operations.
The new Entity List, as it has been dubbed by Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), was created to restrict exports, re-exports and in-country transfer of items that are subject to U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to those that may be involved or pose a threat to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. The new list means the government has imposed a license requirement that applies to all items subject to EAR, the government said. The government noted that it will not provide license exceptions to the entities that have been added to the list announced today. The government has imposed a license review policy of a presumption of denial for these entities.
In addition to the 34 Chinese companies, the Commerce Department also included some technology companies in Georgia, Turkey and Malaysia to its blacklist. In all, the government placed 40 companies on the list, 34 in China, three in Georgia, two in Turkey and one in Malaysia.
