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A GT investigation examines the funding, government ties and questionable business practices of seven US entities subject to China’s countermeasures_我的网站

A |     A piece of cotton fabric, an AI supply-chain map, a "human rights" report and an electronics certification document appear to have little in common. 
Behind them, however, are the US entities that have helped build and operate Washington's machinery of restrictions against China - tracing materials linked to Xinjiang region, mapping supply chains for enforcement, producing reports used to advance "forced labor" allegations, converting those allegations into corporate compliance pressure, and lobbying to exclude Chinese laboratories from the US market.
On August 5, China responded.
China's Ministry of Commerce announced the countermeasures against Applied DNA Sciences, Inc., Stratum Reservoir, LLC., Altana Technologies, Inc., Responsible Business Alliance, Verite Group, Inc. and Human Rights in China, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 
These countermeasures, which took effect on Wednesday, were adopted in response to the US sanctions against Chinese companies under the pretext of "forced labor" in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to the ministry.
In a separate decision, Compliance Testing LLC was listed over its support for restrictive measures taken by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), according to Xinhua. Compliance Testing LLC assisted and supported the FCC in taking these measures, which endanger China's sovereignty, security and development interests.
Chinese organizations and individuals are prohibited from conducting relevant transactions or cooperation with these entities.
Public filings and company disclosures point to a more complicated picture: The seven US entities listed by China occupy different points along a chain extending from research and laboratory testing to AI-powered supply-chain mapping and compliance services, while some have changed their core business or retained operations linked to China.
Who are these entities, who pays them and what exactly have they done to Chinese companies? GT found more behind the names through an investigation into corporate filings, government contracts, funding records and public statements.

    Photos: VCGTests, data and algorithms
The path from the US government's Xinjiang-related allegations to enforcement actions runs through laboratory testing, supply-chain data and algorithmic screening. Three of the entities targeted by China's latest countermeasures have served as "hired guns" along that path. 
Back to May 2024, Applied DNA Sciences and Stratum Reservoir drew international attention with a study of 822 cotton-containing products collected from major retailers and e-commerce platforms between February 2023 and March 2024. According to Reuters, 19 percent contained traces of cotton from Xinjiang region. Among the positive samples presented as having a single origin, 57 percent were labeled as containing only US cotton. The two companies declined to identify the retailers and brands involved.
But the test itself identifies a probable geographical origin: It does not examine recruitment, wages or conditions at a workplace. Those geographical findings acquire legal consequences through the US' prevention act on "forced labor" in Xinjiang, under which goods produced wholly or partly in Xinjiang face a rebuttable presumption.
According to an Applied DNA announcement republished by NASDAQ, the company received a subcontract from LRQA (Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance) in 2024 for an isotopic-testing pilot involving Pakistan's cotton sector. Under the subcontract, Applied DNA and its traceability partner Isotech, a Stratum Reservoir company, were to conduct isotopic testing and analysis. The pilot formed part of the US Department of Labor-funded Global Trace Protocol project, whose overall budget was $4 million. 
By the time China announced its countermeasures, however, Applied DNA had undergone a striking corporate transformation. A May 2026 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission identifies the company as BNB Plus Corp, formerly Applied DNA Sciences, and describes it primarily as a digital-asset treasury company holding BNB cryptocurrency. The filing says it stopped providing textile isotopic-testing services during the previous fiscal year and was exiting its DNA tagging and security business.
The same filing recorded a net loss of $25.27 million for the six months ending March 31, 2026, as well as an accumulated deficit of $404.45 million.
Stratum Reservoir followed a different path into cotton traceability. The company was formerly the laboratory-services arm of oilfield-services group Weatherford. In 2019, Weatherford sold the business to an investor group led by CSL Capital for $206 million in cash, according to the Weatherford's website.
Stratum's own company profile still centers on reservoir characterization and laboratory analysis of rocks and fluids. Through Isotech, however, expertise developed for analyzing natural resources was extended to cotton-origin testing.
According to an Applied DNA announcement republished by NASDAQ, Applied DNA and Stratum Reservoir's Isotech division signed a memorandum of understanding in December 2021 to use isotopic analysis as a confirmatory test for determining cotton origin.
If Applied DNA and Stratum work from physical samples, Altana Technologies operates at the level of data networks. 
In 2023, Altana announced that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had awarded it a multi-year contract to provide what the company called a "foundational map of the global supply chain." Its Atlas platform applies artificial intelligence to public, non-public and proprietary data. 
According to Altana's announcement, thousands of Customs and Border Protection users would be able to conduct network analysis, screen value chains and compile evidence supporting enforcement actions.
That government relationship continued to expand. Records from the US government show that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded Altana another contract in July 2026, with nearly $7.5 million obligated for a forced-labor tool and trade-compliance modules through June 2029.
Altana's personnel structure further reflects its focus on government enforcement. Its leadership page lists government affairs chief Scott Friedman as a former DHS assistant secretary for trade and economic security. Its advisory board includes a former CBP commissioner and several former customs, intelligence and national security officials.
Altana also markets compliance services to companies facing the same enforcement system. In joint promotional material, Altana and Kharon say CBP analysts use their platforms to enforce the US forced labor import ban framework, while businesses can screen shipments through the "exact lens" used by regulators - placing Altana on both the enforcement and corporate-compliance sides of the market.
Together, the three companies illustrate how a technical chain can acquire enforcement power: A laboratory assigns a probable origin to a physical sample; a data platform connects companies, products and shipments across borders; government agencies use those findings to prioritize investigations or support enforcement. 
Roles in a false narrative chain

"Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth" is a maxim of propaganda often attributed to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. In the US' fabrication of the false narrative of "forced labor" in Xinjiang region and its effort to construct a complete chain of policies aimed at suppressing China, certain actors have repeatedly spread lies that smear China through softer means such as agenda-setting, report manufacturing, industry standard-setting and rule-based lobbying.
Among the seven US entities countered by China's Ministry of Commerce this time, some have played precisely such a role.
"Human Rights in China (HRIC)" is likely one of the key actors directly supplying the "ammunition" in this chain. Based in New York and long active on Xinjiang-related accusations, the NGO has even funneled disinformation, acting as a lobbyist and relentlessly pushing for the passage of more restrictive anti-China legislation, the Global Times found.
For years, HRIC's website has published large volumes of disinformation and allegations of "human rights abuses" targeting Xinjiang region, including the content that was plainly fabricated. The organization has also long maintained close ties with certain parts of the US government. In an early transcript of a Joint House and Senate hearing from February 2002, the Global Times found there were extensive sections detailing HRIC's "recommendations" to the US government's "Congressional-Executive Commission on China," including, but not limited to, exploiting the human rights narrative to urge the US government to adopt restrictive regulations and rules targeting "China's WTO accession obligations" and the "Beijing Olympics 2008." 
US labor-rights nonprofit Verite played the role of a fabricator of "evidence." This organization was once invited by the Switzerland-based Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) to join an investigation into whether "forced labor" was being used in cotton-related industries in the Xinjiang region. The budget for the project was $88,200, including $51,950 for Verite US headquarters and $18,250 for the Shenzhen Verite, a company affiliated to the organization, the Global Times learned.
However, there was no record in the Shenzhen Verite's financial reimbursement records of any employee going to Xinjiang to conduct a field survey on this BCI project. Worse still, employees from Shenzhen Verite told the Global Times that they did not go to Xinjiang for field surveys when putting together the draft report, but relied on online materials. They even referred to a report by the infamous anti-China "scholar" Adrian Zenz on "forced labor" in Xinjiang. Clearly, Verite's "investigation" was in fact a performance serving anti-China political purposes.
The next step in the fabrication chain of false narratives about China is to turn accusations into enforceable industry standards. The Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) has likely played a pivotal role in that process.
As a global coalition of major electronics companies, the RBA's Validated Assessment Program (VAP) and Responsible Labor Initiative (RLI) are widely regarded as gold-standard benchmarks for supplier screening by many multinational corporations. Yet on Xinjiang-related issues, RBA has allegedly issued supply-chain compliance guidance grounded in a predetermined position, indirectly aligning itself with US sanctions policy and pressuring many multinational firms to sever ties with China-linked industries.
    Photos: VCGIn a statement posted on its website in March 2020, for instance, the RBA cited a report released by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), an anti-China think tank. The RBA-cited report alleged that "forced labor" involving Uygur minority citizens in China "has been introduced into the supply chains of international brands across multiple industries," and said that it "has been closely following developments." This presumption of guilt has absurdly transformed a fabricated claim into a de facto compliance threshold in corporate operations.
Compliance Testing LLC took a more direct approach. In 2025, it called for Chinese laboratories to be banned from participating in US regulatory testing, arguing that the move would protect US' test labs and US engineer's jobs, the company's website showed. Its CEO, Michael Schafer, even declared on the website that "China is out."
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently took negative measures against China, including barring devices with components from Chinese firms, which severely infringed upon the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises. 
"Compliance Testing LLC assisted and supported the FCC in taking these measures, which endanger China's sovereignty, security and development interests," Xinhua reported on August 5. Compliance Testing LLC is a driving force behind the anti-China measures issued by the FCC, state broadcaster CCTV News said on August 9.
US' deepening 'China anxiety'
There is no evidence showing that the seven entities operate as a unified organization, and their businesses and methods differ widely. What has connected them is not organizational affiliation but function: They occupy different points in a broader system that turns Xinjiang-related allegations into technical tests, supply-chain data, corporate compliance pressure and, eventually, government action.
Applied DNA and Stratum provide tools for tracing the origin of raw materials; Altana maps supply chains for regulators and businesses; HRIC and Verite produce and circulate reports and allegations; the RBA carries such claims into corporate compliance practices; and Compliance Testing has lobbied the US government to restrict Chinese laboratories. Their roles are distinct, but these functions can reinforce one another as allegations move from advocacy and research into commercial screening and regulatory enforcement. 
Chinese economist Bai Ming told the Global Times that, viewed together, the pattern resembles what he described as a "package deal," with different actors providing mutually reinforcing elements for accusations and sanctions against China.
"The ever-lengthening US trade restriction lists actually reflect the US' deepening 'China anxiety,'" Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Zhongguancun Modern Information Consumer Application Industry Technology Alliance, told the Global Times.
Gao Lingyun, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, noted that in recent years, the US has frequently invoked the "forced labor" rhetoric to restrict and suppress Chinese enterprises and curb the country's industrial development. China's countermeasures, he said, are not indiscriminate but are precisely calibrated to respond to specific US actions, reflecting a balance between defending national interests and preserving openness to cooperation.
Xiang argued that unilateral restrictions will not strengthen the US economy but will raise costs for American companies. 
"These measures are driven by industrial competition and fear of losing dominance in the coming era of embodied intelligence," he said. "But they will backfire, increase global supply-chain costs and hinder cooperation."
Gao noted that if the US government continues its discriminatory policies, China may take further action. 
"A healthy China-US economic relationship requires mutual respect and equal benefit. Unilateral pressure and 'decoupling' will only raise costs on both sides and destabilize the global economy," he noted.

。    【文/观察者网 陈思佳】          7月17日至20日，2026世界人工智能大会（WAIC）在上海举办。由于本次大会恰逢2026美加墨世界杯的收官阶段，使用人工智能（AI）预测大力神杯的归属也成为一个热门话题。         北京时间19日，即决赛前一天，在WAIC现场直播中，商汤科技旗下全场景AI办公助手“办公小浣熊”对比赛结果作出预测，认为西班牙将获胜。实际结果也确实如此，西班牙凭借费兰·托雷斯在加时赛的进球，1-0战胜阿根廷，时隔16年再次登顶。         这并非小浣熊首次作出精彩的预测。在世界杯小组赛阶段，小浣熊曾“命中”了32支晋级淘汰赛球队中的26支，其中包括成功预测佛得角出线。佛得角称得上是本届世界杯“最大黑马”，在小组赛中爆冷战平西班牙，并以小组第二的成绩晋级32强。         北京时间7月20日，2026美加墨世界杯决赛，西班牙1-0战胜阿根廷 IC photo          AI是如何“看”比赛，如何预测足球比赛结果的？观察者网与商汤科技小浣熊家族负责人贾安亚进行了对话，她指出，AI并不是简单地猜测答案，预测世界杯结果的背后，展现的是对数据、文本和复杂变量的综合处理能力，AI不会消除不确定性，而是帮助人们更理性地理解问题。

B |          “AI不是预言机器，预测也不是玄学”          事实上，在本届世界杯的早期阶段，办公小浣熊最初预测的结果是阿根廷将挺进决赛并夺冠。但在决赛前夕，基于对球队近期状态、攻防效率、关键球员表现等最新公开数据的分析，小浣熊给出了新的预测，认为西班牙夺冠的概率更高。         贾安亚告诉观察者网，足球比赛结果受到很多因素影响，人们可能会看强队光环、球星名气、过往战绩，但这些并不一定能完整反映一支球队当下的真实竞争力。

C |          小浣熊进行预测时，会把问题拆得更细，比如深入分析球队近期状态、阵容稳定性、历史表现、攻防效率、对手结构、赛程难度、伤病情况、关键球员影响，以及同组竞争关系。         她以佛得角为例，这并不是典型的热门球队，“如果只凭直觉，很多人可能不会优先看好它。但数据分析的价值就在这里：它可以把一些不那么显眼的变量拉出来，比如球队在特定阶段的稳定性、比赛执行力、对手分布、净胜球压力等，然后放到同一个框架里比较。

D | ”          谈及世界杯决赛的结果，贾安亚表示，决赛和普通比赛不一样，决赛中的临场状态、战术调整、伤病情况、裁判尺度、甚至一次偶然失误，都可能改变最终结果。所以小浣熊给出的不是确定性判断，而是在当前信息条件下的概率分析。         “小浣熊的过程不是简单问一句‘谁会出线’，然后让模型猜答案。它会先整理数据，再建立分析维度，形成概率判断，最后给出理由和风险提示，”贾安亚说，“体育比赛的魅力就在于不确定性。AI能做的不是消灭这种不确定性，而是帮助我们更理性地理解它。”          不过，她也强调，体育比赛永远有偶然性，AI不是预言机器，也不应该被包装成玄学，真正值得关注的是它能不能在复杂信息中提供更高质量的分析框架。世界杯预测只是一个更大众、更容易理解的窗口，背后展示的是AI对数据、文本、规则和复杂变量的综合处理能力。         据介绍，办公小浣熊是商汤推出的全场景AI办公助手，覆盖个人用户、专业办公人群，以及企业和产业客户的真实任务场景，具有全场景覆盖、结果交付、任务链路能力和安全可控等优势。         目前小浣熊已经服务了8000多家企业客户，覆盖供应链、金融、教育、政务、电商运营、企业经营管理等多个行业和场景。         “AI不应该替代人，而是成为工作系统的一部分”          在信息化时代，数据分析能力是衡量AI性能的一个关键指标。

E | 贾安亚告诉观察者网，在这一方面，小浣熊系列产品构建起从数据清洗、指标构建、业务理解、推理分析到结果交付的一整套能力。         她表示，为提高数据分析的准确性，小浣熊首先会做好数据治理，帮助用户做数据清洗、格式整理、异常识别和指标统一；其次是理解场景，根据不同业务和问题选择相应的分析路径；然后是把数据判断和业务常识结合，在具体语境里解释数据结论；最后是确保分析可解释，让用户能够复核AI的分析结果。         但数据并不是决定结果的一切，很多时候，个人的主观判断、情绪变化或者突发事件，都可能彻底改变事件的结果，这往往是难以提前预料的因素，也不一定能在数据中得到直观、完整地体现。         对此，贾安亚表示，小浣熊倾向于分层处理问题。例如，对于已结构化的数据，AI可以直接进行分析；可以间接观察到的信号，往往能反映变化的趋势；突发和人为变量则不会给出确定性的判断，AI会把它标记为风险因素或通过情景分析告知用户。

F |          她说：“这也是我们对AI的基本看法：AI应该增强人的判断，而不是假装替代人的判断。”          在金融、医疗、教育等领域，不仅看重数据分析能力，数据安全和隐私保护问题也是重中之重。贾安亚表示，小浣熊在这方面有几个原则，包括数据使用最小化、明确AI的权限和边界、重视本地化和企业级部署能力、确保过程和结果可追溯等。         她指出，如果数据安全、权限边界、隐私保护没有做好，AI能力再强也很难真正落地，“从更大的趋势看，AI应用真正进入产业深水区后，竞争不会只是谁的模型更会说话，而是谁能在安全、稳定、可控的前提下，完成复杂任务交付。

G | 这也是小浣熊非常重视的方向。”          如今，AI已经逐渐成为一种应用于方方面面的生产力工具，许多人已经习惯在办公等场景中使用AI来处理不同任务，甚至出现人在下班后AI继续干活的场景。

H |          对于这些变化，贾安亚认为，AI正在重构工作方式，很多重复性高、流程相对固定的信息密集型工作，不再需要由人亲自完成每一步，工作开始变成另一种形态：人提出目标，AI 拆解任务、处理材料、调用工具、生成结果，人再做判断和确认。         她说：“但我不认为AI应该被摆在‘替代人’的位置上，而是应该成为工作系统的一部分。它可以帮人生成初稿、分析数据、完成重复劳动，但方向、责任、价值判断和关键决策，仍然应该由人来承担。”          在贾安亚看来，未来真正有价值的人机协作，不是人完全不工作，也不是人被AI牵着走，而是人更专注于定义问题、判断结果、承担责任，AI则把大量繁琐但必要的工作做好，“这个变化会影响企业组织、办公软件，也会影响每个人的工作方式”。

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