Biden Expands Trump-Era Ban on Investment in Chinese Firms Linked to Military

The new order includes firms engaged in making and deploying the surveillance technology used against Muslim minorities and dissidents around the globe.

President Biden issued a new executive order on Thursday barring Americans from investing in Chinese firms that are linked to the country’s military or that sell surveillance technology used to repress dissent or religious minorities, both inside and outside China. The new order expands on an earlier, Trump-era blacklist and brings to 59 the total number of Chinese firms banned from U.S. investment. The move intensifies a commercial and ideological battle between Beijing and Washington, one that Mr. Biden has termed the struggle between “autocracy and democracy.” It comes at a moment when China is both ramping up its ability to spy on its nearly 1.4 billion people — using a mix of facial-recognition cameras and software, phone-scanners and a range of other tools — and exporting that technology to nations around the world. The technology is often sold abroad as part of a package of communications equipment provided by companies like Huawei, or as part of China’s Belt and Road initiative, which aims to expand the country’s trade ties.