Report: Here’s why the US added Xiaomi to a blacklist
Recognition: Eric Zeman / Android Authority
- Xiaomi has reportedly been blacklisted in the United States due to an award for its co-founder and CEO.
- The award came from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Xiaomi was blacklisted from the US earlier this year. Washington claimed the company’s links with the Chinese military justified its listing. This move essentially prevents US investors from investing in Xiaomi, as opposed to the more aggressive Entity List that is devastating Huawei.
The US did not provide a reason for blacklisting Xiaomi at this point in time, but rather a US Defense Department legal act discovered by the US Department of Defense Wall Street Journal may have given us a reason. And strangely enough, the file indicates that an award for Xiaomi’s co-founder and CEO Lei Jun is partly to blame.
According to the outlet, Jun 2019 received the award of “Outstanding Builder of Socialism with Chinese Features” from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Wall Street Journal adds that the 2019 award was given to 100 Chinese executives and featured on the Xiaomi website.
The filing also reportedly points to Xiaomi’s investments in “advanced technologies” like 5G and AI as reasons for blacklisting them in the US.
Poll is loadingXiaomi did not comment on the matter when asked by the point of sale, but previously denied any connection with the Chinese military when the news of its blacklist first broke.
“The company affirms that it is not owned, controlled by, or affiliated with the Chinese military and is not a ‘communist Chinese military society’ as defined under the NDAA,” it said at the time.
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