United States. Hikvision and Dahua made public their considerations regarding the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to add both brands to the Entity List.
This is a government blacklist that prohibits U.S.-based companies from exporting their products to named organizations, so the government claims it is its role in China's campaign against Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in the country. In addition to Hikvision and Dahua, several other artificial intelligence (AI) and facial recognition companies relevant to the video surveillance space were added to the list, including Megvii Technology, SenseTime, Yitu Technologies, and Yixin Science and Technology Co.
In this regard, Hikvision publicly stated the following:
"Hikvision strongly opposes the U.S. government's decision. And this will hamper the efforts of global companies to improve human rights around the world." Hikvision, as a global leader in the security industry, respects human rights and takes seriously the responsibility to protect people in the United States and the world," a company spokesperson said in a statement. "Hikvision has engaged with management officials for the past 12 months to clear up misunderstandings about the company and address their concerns. In January 2019, Hikvision hired human rights expert and former U.S. Ambassador Pierre-Richard Prosper to advise the company on human rights compliance. Punishing Hikvision, despite these commitments, will deter global companies from communicating with the U.S. government, hurt Hikvision's U.S. business partners, and negatively impact the U.S. economy."
For his part, Dahua Techonology, exposed:
"With respect to the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to add the Entity List to Dahua Technology, we express our strong protest at such a decision, which has no factual basis, and call on the U.S. government to reconsider its decision."
The statement added that "as a global business entity, Dahua adheres to the code of business conduct and follows market rules and international rules. Dahua is actively working to ensure that our investments and business operations around the world comply with all applicable laws and regulations. With respect to such a decision by the U.S. government, we have taken several steps actively and will continue to provide exceptional products and services to our customers."
It remains to be seen whether this news will have a negative effect on other chipmakers, as well as other U.S.-based video surveillance component manufacturers, such as hard drive manufacturers and lens manufacturers, which put their technology into Hikvision and Dahua cameras and NVRs.
