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Security reinforced at a rally of Uighurs for the celebration of Eid in Urumqi, northwestern Xinjiang, in September 2009 (image for illustration). STR / AFP

A new blow for Chinese companies of the "high-tech" in the United States. The US State Department has just announced the "blacklisting" of twenty-eight government agencies and Chinese companies suspected of participating in the repression of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. They no longer have the right to buy American products.

With our correspondent in Beijing, Stéphane Lagarde

The Chinese champions of electronic surveillance and artificial intelligence are the first targets of this decision. The sanction of the White House cuts off the supply chain of companies, certainly leaders in their sectors, but whose products still largely depend on American chips. This is particularly the case of Hikvision whose "smart" cameras can track the Muslims of Xinjiang in the slightest of their movement.

A sanction that " will also harm the United States "

Without American processors for storing high-resolution images, cameras can no longer store and analyze data. The world's leading supplier of video surveillance equipment headquartered in Hangzhou, near Shanghai, denounces in a statement a sanction that it says will " hurt our business partners in the United States as well ."

Suspended listing

Same opposition on the side of Megvii Technology. The facial recognition giant in Beijing considers this decision " unfounded " and claims "to serve the interests of humanity through artificial intelligence " by " respecting all the laws and regulations of the regions in which (society, Ed) provides services ". On Tuesday, the listing of Hikvision shares was suspended on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

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