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Trump’s leadership isolated them from the U.S. market Wednesday, saying they had contributed to China’s debatable island-building crusade.
By Ana Swanson
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration wednesday added 24 Chinese corporations to a government list that banned them from buying American products, highlighting their role in helping the Chinese military build synthetic islands in the disputed South China Sea.
The Trump administration has sanctioned dozens of Chinese corporations in recent months by adding them to the so-called list of entities for national security issues similar to the complex generation and alleged human rights violations that oppose Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region. But this is the first time the administration has used the list of entities similar to China’s invasion of the South China Sea, which extends south of Hong Kong and borders the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries.
Companies added to the list of entities will no longer be able to purchase generation and other products shipped from the United States, “whether a toothbrush or a semiconductor,” without first obtaining special permission to do so, said Kevin Wolf, a foreigner. business spouse in Akin Gump. While corporations may apply for a license to continue to promote corporations on the list of entities, those programs are denied, the Department of Commerce said.
The State Department also announced that it would begin imposing visa restrictions on Chinese citizens “responsible or complicit in the large-scale rehabilitation, structure or militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea.” These Americans would be excluded from the United States and their circle of member relatives could also face visa restrictions, as the announcement.
Senior State Department officials said they may simply not publish the names of executives who would be prevented from entering the United States, but noted that there were “dozens of people” who would be subject to restrictions.
The resolution is the latest in a series of moves that have further worsened China-U.S. Relations. President Trump, who has accused Beijing of not doing enough to prevent the coronavirus from becoming a global pandemic, has sought to punish China.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has had to ban China-owned social media apps TikTok and WeChat in the United States, close a Chinese diplomatic project in Houston, and impose sanctions on Chinese officials and entities for human rights violations, among others. Measures. In July, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that China’s claims over much of the South China Sea were “completely illegal,” paving the way for the United States to apply sanctions against Chinese corporations operating in the region.
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington called sanctions “totally unreasonable” Wednesday and said the South China Sea “is an integral component of Chinese territory.”
“This is an act of hegemony that seriously violates foreign law and the basic rules governing foreign relations. China rejects it and strongly condemns it,” the spokesman said. “We urge the U.S. aspect to withdraw its misconduct and avoid damaging China’s interests and undermine China’s and THE US reports.”
The South China Sea has a possible place of confrontation between the army, with disturbing swaths between ships and planes. On Tuesday, China accused Americans of flying a U-2 spy plane over a real-fire army training that China had conducted, calling it “naked provocation.” Senior State Department officials declined to check or comment on reports of two missiles fired through the Chinese army labor force in the South China Sea.
The Chinese government has been structuring synthetic islands in disputed waters since 2013, dredging and structuring more than 3,000 acres of new land, adding air defense and anti-money missiles, the Department of Commerce said in its announcement. The structure of the island undermines the sovereignty of other countries in the region and occurs despite condemnation from the United States and other countries, as the announcement.
“The designated entities today have played a vital role in the provocative Chinese structure of these synthetic islands and will be held accountable,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement.
A senior Commerce Department official told reporters Wednesday that there has “been a small amount” of U.S. exports to target corporations on Wednesday, totaling about $5 million over the past five years.
Designated corporations come with several divisions of China Communications Construction Company, a contractor for many of the “Belt and Road” infrastructure projects that China has built around the world. In its announcement, the State Department said the company “had been involved in corruption, predatory financing, environmental destruction, and other abuses around the world.”
The list also includes Beijing Huanjia Telecommunication Company, Chongxin Bada Technology Development Company, Shanghai Cable Offshore Engineering Company, Tianjin Broadcasting Equipment Company and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation and China Shipbuilding Group Institutes.
China will not be allowed to use these corporations “as weapons to impose an expansive agfinisha,” Pompeo said in the statement. “The United States will act until we see Beijing end its coercive habit in the South China Sea, and we will continue to support our allies and partners to resist this destabilizing activity.”
The United States has no maritime claims in the South China Sea, but it must ensure that Beijing does not trample on the “sovereign rights” of Southeast Asian nations. Senior State Department officials also accused China and its state-owned enterprises of “intimidation and coercion” in the region, which hosts important and lucrative shipping routes.
David R. Stilwell, Undersecretary of State of the Office of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, described China’s territory in the region as “modern equivalents of the East India Company,” referring to the trading company that propelled the British Empire.
Pranshu Verma contributed to the report.
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