Several lawmakers welcomed the State Department’s March 31 announcement that it is sanctioning six Hong Kong government and police officials who it said have helped to implement the territory's repressive national security law (see 2503310041).
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., said March 31 that they may pursue sanctions if the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) creates a new mechanism to investigate Israel.
The Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence criticized the Bureau of Industry and Security's decision last week to add the research organization to the Entity List and urged BIS to remove it (see 2503250075). "Artificial intelligence is a shared resource for humanity, akin to electricity and other transformative technological advancements," the academy said, according to a report from state-run news outlet China Daily. "The US decision contradicts the spirit of scientific innovation and global cooperation, severely undermining openness in AI research and development.” The academy was added for allegedly trying to buy export-controlled U.S. items to develop large AI models and advanced semiconductors for China’s military.
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Four Democratic lawmakers said this week that the Bureau of Industry and Security’s plans to pull back from traditional export control dialogues with allies, including the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council, will reduce international collaboration and make it harder to keep sensitive technology out of the hands of China.
Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., plans to reintroduce a bill that would impose property-blocking sanctions on foreign persons who undermine the 1995 peace agreement that ended the Bosnian War, a spokesperson said in an e-mail March 25. The Upholding the Dayton Peace Agreement Through Sanctions Act is aimed at pro-secession Bosnian Serb leaders. The House passed the bill by a wide margin in the last Congress (see 2503140019).
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, introduced a resolution March 27 that would form a bipartisan House committee to develop policy recommendations to counter Mexican drug cartels.
House Select Committee on China ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., and Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., urged the Trump administration March 31 to investigate whether China’s Yantai iRay Technology Co. Ltd. is evading U.S. sanctions by selling its thermal imaging products in the U.S. through subsidiaries and other affiliated entities.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned six people and seven entities tied to the money laundering network supporting the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel, which the agency called one of the “most notorious and violent drug trafficking organizations in the world.”
The State Department this week sanctioned six Hong Kong government and police officials who it said have helped to implement Hong Kong’s repressive national security law, which penalizes government dissent.