Chinese Supercomputing Entities Blacklisted By US

The US Commerce Department said on Thursday it was adding seven Chinese supercomputing entities to an American economic blacklist for assisting Chinese military efforts.

The department is adding Tianjin Phytium Information Technology, Shanghai High-Performance Integrated Circuit Design Centre, Sunway Microelectronics, the National Supercomputing Centre Jinan, the National Supercomputing Centre Shenzhen, the National Supercomputing Centre Wuxi, and the National Supercomputing Centre Zhengzhou to its blacklist.

The Commerce Department said the seven were "involved with building supercomputers used by China’s military actors, its destabilising military modernisation efforts, and/or weapons of mass destruction programs."

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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

Companies or others listed on the US Entity List are required to apply for licenses from the Commerce Department that face tough scrutiny when they seek permission to receive items from US suppliers.

The new rules take effect immediately but do not apply to goods from American suppliers already en route.

During the administration of former US president Donald Trump, Washington added dozens of Chinese companies to its economic blacklist, including the country’s top smartphone maker Huawei Technologies, top chipmaker SMIC and the largest drone manufacturer, SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd. (Reuters)