The U.S. government under the outgoing Trump administration has blacklisted 9 Chinese companies including Xiaomi for alleged military links.
Following this move, US investors can no longer invest in the companies added to this special blacklist. They are barred from purchasing shares and securities of companies like Xiaomi who are a part of this list and will have to divest their existing holdings in them by Nov. 11, 2021.
The other firms that have been blacklisted are state-owned planemaker Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd. or Comac, and China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC).
Notably, the latest ban is being seen as a final push to put pressure on Beijing before Joe Biden takes over as US President.
CNOOC has been involved in offshore drilling in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, where Beijing has overlapping territorial claims with other countries including Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan, and Malaysia.
“China’s reckless and belligerent actions in the South China Sea and its aggressive push to acquire sensitive intellectual property and technology for its militarisation efforts are a threat to US national security and the security of the international community,” US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement.
“CNOOC acts like a bully for the People’s Liberation Army to intimidate China’s neighbors, and the Chinese military continues to benefit from government civil-military fusion policies for malign purposes,” Ross said.
However, CNOOC did not immediately comment.
According to a media report, Trump had signed an executive order barring transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay and WeChat Pay to protect America’s national security, citing the steps taken by India to ban more than 200 Chinese connected software applications. Trump’s order said action is needed to “deal with the national emergency” caused by the “pervasiveness of the spread” of apps created and controlled in China. The banned Chinese apps include Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay, and WPS Office.
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