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Shanghai (AFP)
Alibaba, a Chinese tech giant, has tried to distance itself from a face recognition software feature designed by its cloud computing unit that could help users to identify members of the country’s Uighur Muslim minority marking.
This week’s report highlighting the software feature Alibaba, one of the world’s most valuable companies, made it the latest Chinese corporate entity that has entered the controversy over China’s handling of Uighurs.
In a statement posted online late Thursday, Alibaba said it was “disappointed to learn” that Alibaba Cloud had developed the feature.
The technology was used only for aptitude test and was not used by any customer, Alibaba said, saying it had “eliminated any ethnic tag” in its results.
“We will not and will not allow our technology to be used to target or identify particular ethnic groups,” he said.
The Uighur case links to it as a worrying threat to Chinese companies as global criticism escalates over Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang’s northwestern region.
Rights groups say up to a million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities have been detained in internment camps there.
Beijing initially denied the existence of the camps but now names them as vocational training centers that aim to offer alternatives to religious leadership.
Chinese Uighurs, a Muslim people of Turkic origin, have ruled China for decades, an anger that has exploded from time to time into deadly violence.
Watch spending in Xinjiang has skyrocketed in recent years, with face recognition and other technologies being used across the province.
Last year Washington made a list of eight Chinese technical companies for links according to a report to the investigation effort.
Last week, US-based surveillance research firm IPVM said Chinese telecoms company Huawei had been involved in testing face recognition software that could alert sent to police when Uighur faces were identified.
Huawei denied the claim.
But the controversy caused the French football star to win the World Cup in Barcelona, Antoine Griezmann, to secure a support contract with Huawei.
Alibaba is the leader of China’s major e-commerce division, designing a sunny image for the world unveiled by global-trotting founder and billionaire vice president Jack Ma.
It has also moved into cloud computing, brick-and-mortar sales and delivery services, as well as overseas expansion.
The Trump administration has lifted a series of U.S. sanctions against Huawei for allegedly infringing on Chinese state security and has blocked pressure on other companies , possibly including Alibaba.
© 2020 AFP