Dharamshala, 4th June: As a signal of Washington’s ongoing pressure campaign against China, US President Joe Biden extended on Thursday a blacklist of Chinese firms that, as a result of their ties to Beijing’s ‘military-industrial complex,’ are beyond American investment. The Biden administration is extending a restriction of Trump-era forbidding US investment in Chinese enterprises, claiming that the military of China is helping to include firms selling monitoring equipment as a threat to US interests and values. The move was part of a series of White House actions aimed at the Asian giant that has soured relations between the two countries.

In November, former President Donald Trump published a list of 31 Chinese companies saying they supplied or supported China’s military and security devices, and finally extended the list to include more companies. A new Executive Orden for Thursday’s release extends prohibitions to the Treasury Department, from the Defense Department, which Trump’s administration has implemented, with the power to restrict it, senior sources said. They spoke on the condition that the order is pre-released anonymously.

However, as court challenges placed doubt on penalties, the blacklist was examined by Biden’s team, which removed some names and eventually increased it to 59 businesses, where American ownership of stocks is prohibited. Many of the corporations are already listed subsidiary firms. According to the statement from the White House, sanctions are targeted by firms using Chinese surveillance technologies “to support repression or serious human rights abuses” that “undermine the US and its allies’ security or democratic aspirations.”

China Mobile, China Telecom, video surveillance business Hikvision, and China Railway Construction Corp. were among the biggest telecommunication, construction, and technology companies on Trump’s initial list. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) was added to Biden’s list in January, prompting S&P to remove the business from its stock index. Current shareholders have a year to divest before the investment prohibition takes effect on August 2.

Although the Biden administration claimed to be more conciliatory with China following the revolution of its predecessor, it also declared that it will remain firm in key fields, especially defence and technology. Biden was concerned the loss of the US and that China “eats our lunch.”

Picture Courtesy: myv949.com

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