On Wednesday, February 10, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez (D-NY) and Republican Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) jointly called on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to explain the company’s dealings with China’s Dahua Technology Co. Bezos to explain the company’s deal with China’s Dahua Technology Co.
According to the Voice of America, Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rubio, who co-chairs the Congressional and Executive Committee on China, recently joined forces to take on Bezos, questioning Amazon’s work with Dahua Technology on facial recognition software used to monitor and report on the activities of the Uighur population in Xinjiang for the Chinese Communist Party authorities.
The two senators wrote: “These reports are extremely disturbing and suggest that the comprehensive surveillance system deployed by the Chinese Communist authorities against the Uighurs is 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 asked Bezos if he was aware that Dahua was on the U.S. Commerce Department’s entity (black) list when he negotiated and signed the $10 million deal with the Chinese company? They also wanted to know what criteria Amazon has in place when deciding to terminate business relationships with entities that trample on human rights?
While purchasing equipment from Dahua is not illegal, it does raise questions about you as Amazon’s CEO,” the two lawmakers said. If the allegations against Dahua are true, it would mean that Amazon intentionally ignored U.S. government guidance and purchased equipment from a company that is on the entity’s (black) list and involved in Chinese atrocities against Uighurs.”
In late April of last year, Reuters reported that Amazon purchased thermal imaging cameras from Dahua, which was on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Entity (Black) List, in a deal worth nearly $10 million during the New Coronavirus (a Chinese Communist virus) outbreak. The devices were used to measure the body temperature of staff during the outbreak. The news drew the ire of Uyghur activists and criticism from U.S. lawmakers.
Last November, IPVM, a U.S. video surveillance information company, released a video report stating that they had discovered that a product from Zhejiang artificial intelligence company Dahua had terminology developed specifically for Uyghurs in its coding, indicating that their video surveillance software had face recognition capabilities for Uyghur facial features.
Earlier this month, Amazon announced that Bezos is stepping down as Amazon’s chief executive. He will retain his role as executive chairman.
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