Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), co-chairman of the Congressional and Executive Committee on China (CECC), jointly called on Wednesday (March 10) for Amazon’s chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos (Jeff Bezos) to detail his company’s deal with China’s Dahua Technology Co. Dahua Technology has reportedly developed facial recognition software used to detect and report on Uighur Muslims for Chinese authorities. The two lawmakers believe the company contributes to the Chinese government’s genocide and other Crimes Against Humanity against the Uighurs.
The two senators wrote, “These reports are extremely disturbing and show that the comprehensive surveillance system deployed by Chinese authorities against Uighurs is just as bad as we feared, and perhaps even worse.” They cited disturbing features of such software, including real-Time alerts about Uighurs and immediate reporting of people with certain facial characteristics to Chinese security forces.
The two senators also raised questions about whether Bezos was aware of Dahua’s inclusion on the U.S. Commerce Department’s list of entities when he negotiated and signed the $10 million deal with the Chinese company and what criteria Amazon has in place when deciding to terminate business relationships with entities that trample on human rights.
“While buying equipment from Dahua is not illegal, it is raises questions about you as Amazon’s CEO,” Menendez and Rubio added. “If the allegations against Dahua are true, it would mean that Amazon intentionally ignored U.S. government guidance and purchased equipment from a company listed as an entity and involved in Chinese atrocities against Uighurs.”
In October 2019, the U.S. government placed Dahua Technology Co. and 28 Chinese entities, including the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, on the Commerce Department’s Entity List for their involvement in the suppression of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities.
Institutions or companies included on this blacklist are not allowed to deal with U.S. companies without the approval of the U.S. government.
In late April of last year, Reuters reported that Amazon purchased thermal imaging cameras from Dahua, which is on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s list of entities, in a deal worth nearly $10 million during the New coronavirus outbreak. The equipment was used to measure the body temperatures of employees who held down jobs during the new coronavirus outbreak. The news drew the ire of Uyghur activists and criticism from U.S. lawmakers.
Amazon did not comment at the time on the purchase of the equipment from Dahua, but said the company’s hardware complied with national, state and local laws, and that the temperature testing was done “to support the health and safety of our employees who continue to provide critical services in our communities.
Last November, IPVM, a U.S. video surveillance information company, released a video report saying they found a product from Zhejiang artificial intelligence company Dahua coded with terminology developed specifically for Uighurs, indicating that their video surveillance software has face recognition capabilities for Uighur facial features.
In January, before leaving office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo characterized the Chinese government’s crackdown on the Uighurs as genocide. The Biden administration’s new secretary of state, John Blinken, has indicated that he agrees with that designation.
The Seattle, Washington-based Amazon.com Inc. was founded by Bezos in 1994, and the company that started by selling books online has grown into an international e-commerce giant with businesses in Cloud Computing, groceries, appliances and entertainment. Amazon’s business has boomed during the New Coronavirus outbreak.
Amazon.com Inc. announced earlier this month that billionaire Bezos, 57, will step down as Amazon’s chief executive. He will retain his role as executive chairman.
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