US blacklists seven Chinese supercomputer centres over weapons concerns

The seven centres were put on the US government's entity list, which means they require special permission for exports and imports from the United States, South China Morning Post reported.

(Representative photo) US has restricted trade with top Chinese supercomputing centres, as these capabilities can be used for the development of modern weapons and national security systems. (Pixabay)

The United States on Thursday restricted trade with top Chinese supercomputing centres, as these capabilities can be used for the development of modern weapons and national security systems.

"Commerce implements new export controls on China, adding 7 Chinese entities to the Entity List in response to their involvement with China's military, its destabilizing military modernization efforts, and/or its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program," US Department of Commerce tweeted.

The seven centres were put on the US government's entity list, which means they require special permission for exports and imports from the United States, South China Morning Post reported.

"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. The Department of Commerce will use the full extent of its authorities to prevent China from leveraging US technologies to support these destabilising military modernisation efforts," said US Secretary of Commerce Gina M Raimondo.

This law comes amid rising tension between the two countries over issues including human rights violations, trade and China's military aggression.

This development comes days after the New York Stock Exchange has announced that it is planning to delist the Chinese online home platform Danke for failing to report its financial results and for not responding to repeated requests made by the American authorities.

US Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates the US stock markets, recently amended the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act to remove from the US stock markets foreign firms that did not comply with local accounting standards.

The amended rule comes as US-China relations have reached a new low over several disputes on issues concerning human rights and trade, among others.