Trump administration blocked Chinese acquisition of fertility clinic over medical data concerns

  • 📰 CNBC
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 120 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 51%
  • Publisher: 72%

United States News News

United States United States Latest News,United States United States Headlines

U.S. blocked Chinese purchase of fertility clinic over medical data security concerns

The United States government, using a confidential process, has blocked a Chinese entity from purchasing a fertility clinic in San Diego, CNBC has learned.

CFIUS is an interagency committee that reviews transactions involving foreign investment in American companies. The committee is housed inside the Treasury Department, but it is also made up of representatives from various agencies and the Departments of Justice, Defense and Homeland Security. The CFIUS review process is cloaked in secrecy. The committee rarely comments on actions it takes or publicly explains the reasons for blocking certain deals.

"Your genetic material, your biological material, is among the most intimate information about you, who you are, what your vulnerabilities may be, what your illnesses have been in the past, what your family medical history is," he said. "I'm not saying that we've seen this, but the worst case would be the development of some kind of biological weapon," Demers said. "If you had all of the data of a population, you might be able to see what the population is most vulnerable to," he said, "and then develop something that's taking advantage of that vulnerability."

Yet despite this U.S. government concern, a CNBC investigation found that four of the roughly dozen fertility clinics in the San Diego area already have investors with links to China. The San Diego region is replete with some of the nation's most sensitive military facilities, such as Marine Corps Air Station Miramar — the "Fighter Town USA" made famous in the movie "Top Gun" — and Naval Base San Diego, home port of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Wood has practiced medicine at two San Diego-area fertility clinics with Chinese-linked ownership. He said Chinese investors are attracted to the lucrative business model of the clinics themselves. "I really don't see any security risk at all," Wood said. The commission found that "the acquisition of U.S. personal and health data by the Chinese government and companies presents national security risks."

With the complexity of the law, interlocking ownership and cutting-edge science, the challenge for the U.S. government is to work out which fertility-center transactions are legitimate business deals and which ones might not be. The chairman of the board of Jinxin is Wang Bin, a member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and a former executive of a Chinese state-owned enterprise.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 12. in US
 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

China won't allow an American company to prosper in China but our politicians roll out the red carpet for China to prosper in America.

China is buying up American companies in record numbers because American businesses refuse to hire its black & brown people & manufacturer in America instead they outsource to China where they dump trillions of dollars. The Chinese turns around & use the money to buy businesses

Good!!

Good

United States United States Latest News, United States United States Headlines