US imposes visa curbs on Chinese working with govts under rights scrutiny

Michael Pompeo says certain employees of Chinese tech companies like Huawei provide material support to governments involved in rights abuses

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Sunday (local time) said that visa restrictions have been imposed on certain employees of Chinese tech companies like Huawei as they provide material support to the governments involved in human rights abuses globally.

"The @StateDept imposed visa restrictions on certain employees of Chinese technology companies like Huawei that provide material support to regimes engaging in human rights abuses globally," Pompeo tweeted.

Issuing a similar statement last week, Pompeo said, "Telecommunications companies around the world should consider themselves on notice -- If they are doing business with Huawei, they are doing business with human rights abusers."

US President Donald Trump has called Chinese technology "untrustworthy".

"We confronted untrustworthy Chinese technology and telecom providers. We convinced many countries not to use Huawei because it is a big security risk. Just today, the UK announced that they are not going to be using it," Trump said on Wednesday.

Last month, Washington designated Huawei and ZTE Corp as national security threats, saying they have close ties with the Chinese Communist Party and China's military apparatus.