A CalSTRS spokeswoman is quoted in the Reuters report as saying, "We are tracking the situation given this new development with the Department of Commerce's announcement," and a spokesman for the New York teachers' fund is cited as saying, "Our holdings are primarily held according to their weights in passive portfolios matching the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. index, our policy benchmark. We are monitoring the situation."

Being blacklisted typically bars a company from purchasing certain U.S. technologies, like software and microchips, unless they've been granted specific permission. The blacklist does not mean U.S. investors are barred from owning their shares.

Hikvision, however, was barred from selling its products to U.S. federal agencies lest its technology gain access to "sensitive" systems. It is appealing its inclusion on the blacklist, with Reuters reporting that its general manager, Hu Yangzhong, has said the firm has hired a human rights lawyer to defend it.

"Hikvision has emerged as the corporate poster child for enabling Chinese human rights abuses, with its surveillance cameras visible atop the walls of detention camps incarcerating some 1 million or more Uighurs in Xinjiang," Roger Robinson, president and CEO of Washington, D.C.-based risk consultancy RWR Advisory Group, is quoted as saying. He adds that many Americans are unsuspecting owners because the shares are owned by index funds with little or no exploration into such factors as human rights abuses or national security.

From: BenefitsPro