The Security Industry Association (SIA) has terminated the membership of Dahua Technology, a Chinese tech firm, citing a failure to comply with its code of ethics, specifically for being placed on the U.S. Entity List.

The U.S. government placed 28 state security bureaus and tech companies in China, including Dahua and Hikvision, on a United States blacklist over concerns about their role in human rights violations in 2019.

“In accordance with the Code of Ethics and the policies and procedures accompanying it, the SIA Board of Directors has terminated the membership of Dahua Technology,” SIA announced at the beginning of the month in a letter to members.

Dahua refutes SIA’s decision, saying it “strikes us as dubious for a number of reasons.”

“First, the decision to put our firm on the Entity List took place in 2019, yet the SIA never indicated to us that this status would prevent our continued membership,” Dahua said in a statement to SDM. “We paid our 2019, 2020 and 2021 dues and participated in the SIA activities during this period with no direct or indirect message from the SIA that our membership was at risk due to the government’s action.”

The statement goes on to say that Dahua’s inclusion on the Entity List does not provide grounds for expulsion

“The Entity List is not a ban on our operations in this market nor does it represent a fact-based assessment of our company’s operations,” according to the statement. “There is no due process associated with its compilation. Our company respects the right of the U.S. government to regulate its market as it sees fit. However, SIA faces no legal or regulatory risk that we know of from allowing us to continue to be a member.”

Dahua also alleges that SIA’s action “was not based on any evidence-gathering effort.”

“The SIA’s board claims that we are failing to meet its principles, yet offers no proof to substantiate that charge beyond the reporting of a single outlet that brought the complaint against our company in the first place,” Dahua said. “That outlet has clearly expressed its views about our company and plainly wishes to see us banned from the market. But the fact remains that its core allegations against us are false.”

Hikvision, despite also being listed on the Entity List, remain members of SIA. SIA is not providing any further comment on the matter.

“For the SIA to expel Dahua without any fact-gathering sets a dangerous precedent for the industry with consequences that could go far beyond our particular business,” Dahua continued. “It forecloses our ability to work with the SIA and our fellow industry members at a time when collaboration is arguably more important than ever. As disappointing as this decision is, it does not materially impact our ability to continue to operate and provide solutions and tools that are making the world safer and more secure for our customers and for communities across America and around the world. We will continue to focus on this mission and meet the evolving needs of our customers and partners.”