Seven Chinese supercomputing entities added to US economic blacklist

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The US Commerce Department said Thursday it was adding seven Chinese supercomputing entities to a US economic blacklist for assisting Chinese military efforts. The department is adding Tianjin Phytium Information Technology, Shanghai High-Performance Integrated Circuit Design Center, Sunway Microelectronics, the National Supercomputing Center Jinan, the National Supercomputing Center Shenzhen, the National Supercomputing Center Wuxi, and the National Supercomputing Center Zhengzhou to its blacklist. The Commerce Department said the seven were “involved with building supercomputers used by China’s military actors, its destabilizing military modernization efforts, and/or weapons of mass destruction programs.”The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “Supercomputing capabilities are vital for the development of many – perhaps almost all – modern weapons and national security systems, such as nuclear weapons and hypersonic weapons, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement. Companies or others listed on the US Entity List are required to apply for licenses from the Commerce Department that face tough scrutiny when they seek permission to receive items from US suppliers.