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“We have to assume that we have to act accordingly and we have to cut off this flow of support,” Gallagher added. “American companies need to take off their golden blinders and realize that there are no truly private companies in China.”
The bipartisan bill, the BioSecure Act, introduced in January by Gallagher and Illinois Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, the committee’s ranking member, would allege BGI Group and Wuxi AppTec have ties to the Chinese military. claims.
Krishnamoorthi said Thursday that China could use biotechnology to “potentially harm Americans” and that the country would “give human soldiers biologically enhanced capabilities.” ” experiment and “gather large amounts of genetic data from Americans.”
China harshly criticizes the US, but makes a “direct appeal” for cooperation
China harshly criticizes the US, but makes a “direct appeal” for cooperation
“We need to draw a line in the sand and ensure that biotech innovations reflect our values,” Krishnamoorthi said at the hearing. “This means holding bad actors accountable and imposing foreign investment regulations. [Chinese Communist Party]Affiliated biotechnology companies. ”
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, called the allegations of genetic data theft “baseless” and called it “another example of the US fabricating excuses and using all means to suppress Chinese companies.” called.
“China is firmly opposed,” Liu said Thursday. “The U.S. side must respect fundamental facts, abandon ideological bias, stop abusing various excuses to unfairly suppress Chinese enterprises, and treat Chinese enterprises fairly, justly and non-discriminatively in their business operations. should be provided.”
Meanwhile, witnesses at Thursday’s hearing called on the U.S. government to step up strategic support for the U.S. biotechnology sector to maintain its lead and beat China.
“What is needed is what the nation needs to accomplish through biotechnology, and how the government and private sector can maintain U.S. economic competitiveness and protect U.S. power in this age of biology.” A clear vision of how we can work together,” Tara O’Toole testified. venture capital firm In-Q-Tel;
Still, Jason Kelly, CEO of synthetic biology company Gingo Bioworks, sees opportunities for strategic Sino-American cooperation, such as building a global oversight system to prevent the weaponization of biotechnology. Said it exists.
Both the House and Senate bills have a long way to go before becoming law, and further changes are possible.
The Senate bill, which passed a committee vote Wednesday, was amended to exempt existing contracts and agreements.
What’s going on with the US-China conflict in major high-tech fields, from AI to EVs?
What’s going on with the US-China conflict in major high-tech fields, from AI to EVs?
Nevertheless, the bill mentions Wuxi and BGI over the objections of businesses. It is not yet clear when the bill will come to the Senate floor for a vote.
In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday, Wuxi Chairman Ge Li said: “We strongly oppose such pre-emptive and unwarranted designations without due process, which we strongly believe have not been and have not been brought forward by Wuxi AppTec.” It does not pose a security risk to other countries. ”
“We also reiterate that Wuxi AppTec does not engage in human genomics business or collect human genome data,” Li added.
The Shanghai-based company generated more than 60% of its revenue from its U.S. operations in the first half of 2023, according to an interim report.
BGI said the U.S. market accounts for a relatively small portion of its revenue. The company said its U.S. subsidiary primarily provides scientific research services, and its business operations comply with U.S. personal privacy and data security regulations, according to Chinese media outlet Cailian.
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