An article in the Wall Street Journal (February 2) cited a report by the Victims of Communism Memorial
Foundation and the consulting firm Horizon Advisory, which implicates U.S. and multinational corporations
in the Communist Party’s human-rights abuses, the surveillance of Chinese people, and Beijing’s military
build-up. It said despite the advisory from the U.S. State, Treasury and several other departments warning
that “given the severity and extent of these abuses, businesses and individuals that do not exit supply chains,
ventures, and/or investments connected to Xinjiang could run a high risk of violating U.S. law”, the report
finds that Dell has an office in Urumqi and had recently advertised a retail account manager job opening in
Urumqi. Dell spokeswoman Carly Tatum replied in an emailed statement that “the office is in the process of
being closed due to low utilization,” and “we are constantly reviewing and adjusting our global footprint.”
The article also referred to Dell’s China-based subsidiary's co-authored 2018 report on digital
industrialization with the State Council. That report, it said, explicitly mentioned the development of
“emerging technologies such as cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence”—all areas that have
military applications in addition to civilian ones, and quoted Huang Chenhong, President of Dell
Technologies Greater China, as having said the company “is committed to becoming the most trusted partner
of the Chinese government and enterprises in the process of digital transformation.” It revealed that General
Electric has a joint venture, HDGE, with China Huadian, a state-owned enterprise and that China Huadian
had signed a strategic cooperation agreement last year with the Xinjiang government, according to the
Chinese-language Polaris Solar Photovoltaic Network News.GE declined to comment about China
Huadian’s business dealings. Microsoft also appears to have ties to China’s police and surveillance state.
Haiyi Software—a company that provides surveillance-related products such as a “social face and vehicle
verification platform” to public-security bureaus across China—lists Microsoft as a “partner” on its website.
So does Beijing Zhongke Fuxing Information Technology, which lists among its “success cases” work with
several detention centers, including in Xinjiang. Microsoft did not comment in response to inquiries about
its ties to either company. The Wall Street Journal said that in 2018, Microsoft announced a strategic
partnership with Shenzhen-based Dajiang Innovations (better known as DJI) “to bring advanced AI and
machine learning capabilities to DJI drones.” The news release noted that DJI had chosen Microsoft Azure
as “its preferred cloud-computing partner” and would use its “AI and machine learning capabilities to help
turn vast quantities of aerial imagery and video data into actionable insights for thousands of businesses
across the globe.” It noted that the Pentagon had said last summer that “systems produced by” DJI “pose
potential threats to national security” and said Microsoft did not provide comment on its business dealings
with DJI or whether the relationship is ongoing. Microsoft has also entered into partnerships with Huawei.
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