Casualties of trade war: Chinese in US denied licences to work with sensitive technologies – South China Morning Post
What happened: Chinese nationals working tech jobs in the US with national security implications are increasingly being denied government licenses to do so, SCMP reports. “Deemed export” licenses allow non-US nationals access to otherwise classified technology, more than half are generally approved. But as the US-China trade war plods on and bi-partisan concerns linger about China as a competitor in technological dominance, Chinese nationals are seeing their licenses expire without renewal or are being denied licenses altogether. The trend is likely to continue, Doug Jacobson, a lawyer who specializes in the licenses, told SCMP.
Why it’s important: As the trade war continues, concern deepens in Washington D.C. about the presence of Chinese nationals close to home. Reports about spies frequently surface in American media. Approximately one out of every 350,000 Chinese who study in the US seek insider access to its science and technology for China’s benefit, experts told CNN in February. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee the same week that Beijing was recruiting spies at American universities.