Trump administration to add 4 more Chinese firms to Pentagon blacklist: Sources

Washington, November 20

Washington is poised to designate 4 extra Chinese firms as backed by the Chinese army, sources have stated, curbing their entry to the US buyers because the Trump administration seeks to cement its hawkish China legacy in its waning days.

The designations, which haven’t been beforehand reported, could possibly be launched by the Department of Defence as quickly as Friday however could also be unveiled subsequent week, stated a US official and one particular person acquainted with the matter who declined to be named.

The White House and the Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

The additions would deliver the variety of Chinese firms affected to 35. They embrace giants particularly Hikvision China Telecom Corp and China Mobile, which had been added earlier this yr.

The record of “Communist Chinese Military Companies” was mandated by a 1999 legislation requiring the Pentagon to compile a listing of firms “owned or controlled” by the People’s Liberation Army however the defence division solely complied this yr.

The newest transfer would come simply days after the White House revealed an government order, first reported by Reuters, that sought to present enamel to the record by prohibiting US buyers from shopping for securities of the blacklisted firms from November 2021.

“The move helps ensure no American is unwittingly subsidising the (Chinese Communist Party)’s campaign to dominate the technologies of the future,” stated Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher, who has launched laws to ban blacklisted Chinese firms from the US capital markets.

However, the chief order was unlikely to deal the corporations a severe blow, specialists stated, on account of its restricted scope, uncertainty concerning the stance of the incoming Biden administration and already-scant holdings by the US funds.

Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, who takes workplace on January 20, has not laid out an in depth China technique however all indications are that he’ll proceed a tricky method towards Beijing.

The rising defence division record will seemingly add to tensions between the world’s two largest economies, which have been at loggerheads over the coronavirus and China’s crackdown on Hong Kong.

The record can also be a part of a broader effort by Washington to focus on what it sees as Beijing’s efforts to enlist companies to harness rising civilian applied sciences for army functions.

In September, the US Commerce Department imposed restrictions on exports to China’s largest chip maker SMIC after concluding there was an “unacceptable risk” that tools equipped to it could possibly be used for army functions.

Congress and the administration have sought more and more to curb the US market entry of Chinese firms that don’t adjust to guidelines confronted by American rivals, even when which means antagonising Wall Street.

In August, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Treasury officers urged Trump to delist Chinese firms that commerce on US exchanges and fail to satisfy its auditing necessities by January 2022. Reuters