Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday that the United States will take further action to preserve freedom in the South China Sea by imposing visa restrictions on Chinese nationals involved in large-scale reclamation, construction and militarization activities in the South China Sea, including directors of state-owned enterprises and officials of the Chinese Communist Party and People’s Liberation Army Navy. The U.S. Department of Commerce added PetroChina to its list of export control entities. Reuters reported that Xiaomi was blacklisted as a company suspected of having ties to the Chinese military.
Pompeo issued a statement Thursday announcing a new wave of South China Sea-related sanctions. Anyone involved in large-scale reclamation, construction and or militarization of disputed islands in the South China Sea, or through threats and other means to prevent Southeast Asian countries claiming sovereignty over the South China Sea from accessing offshore resources in the South China Sea, will be banned from entering the United States in the future.
Pompeo said the banned Chinese nationals include directors of state-owned enterprises and naval officials of the Communist Party of China and the People’s Liberation Army; immediate family members of these individuals may also face the same visa restrictions.
Pompeo noted that the U.S. Department of Commerce also added Chinese offshore oil to its list of export-controlled entities earlier Thursday, citing its involvement in China’s coercive actions against other countries claiming sovereignty in the South China Sea. Pompeo said the United States has a profound interest in maintaining a free and open South China Sea with all law-abiding nations. He stressed that “all nations, regardless of military and economic strength, should be able to enjoy the rights and freedoms guaranteed by international law, as set forth within the 1982 (United Nations) Convention on the Law of the Sea, without fear of coercion.”
Pompeo also said that Beijing continues to send fishing fleets and energy exploration vessels, escorted by warships, to operate in the waters of these Southeast Asian countries and to harass the aforementioned countries’ oil and gas development in the region.
Pompeo reiterated, “The United States stands with Southeast Asian countries that are trying to defend their sovereign rights and interests under international law. We will continue to act until Beijing stops its coercive behavior in the South China Sea.”
The Central News Agency said that to counter China’s militarization of the South China Sea, the U.S. has stopped taking vague positions on the South China Sea in recent months. Pompeo issued a statement last July formally rejecting China’s “totally illegal” claim to the South China Sea and stressing that the world will not allow China to treat the South China Sea as its own maritime empire. This was the first time the U.S. side formally opposed Beijing’s specific claims on the South China Sea dispute. In August of the same year, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed sanctions on 24 Chinese state-owned enterprises, including a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company, for assisting Beijing in militarizing islands in the South China Sea. The State Department also imposed visa restrictions on the individuals involved at the time.
At the same time that the Commerce Department placed CNOOC on its list of export-controlled entities, the Commerce Department also placed Beijing Skyrizon on its “military end user” (MEU) list because of the company’s ability to develop, produce or maintain military products, such as engines for military aircraft.
According to the Central News Agency, U.S. Commerce Secretary Ross said “China’s reckless and belligerent actions in the South China Sea and its aggressive acquisition of sensitive intellectual property and technology for its militarization efforts pose a threat to U.S. national security and the security of the international community.” Ross said, “CNOOC plays the bully in the PLA’s campaign to intimidate China’s neighbors, and the Chinese military continues to benefit from the government’s policy of civil-military integration for nefarious purposes.”
The Commerce Department said CNOOC “has repeatedly harassed and threatened offshore oil and gas exploration and exploitation in the South China Sea in order to elevate the political risk to interested foreign partners, including Vietnam.”
Ross also said that Chinese state-owned company Beijing Tianjiao Aviation actively promotes the acquisition and localization of foreign military technology, posing a significant threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.
Also according to Reuters, Xiaomi was blacklisted as a company suspected of having ties to the Chinese military. Citing documents, Reuters reported that the Trump administration has blacklisted nine Chinese companies, including cell phone maker Xiaomi and aircraft manufacturer Commercial Aircraft of China, for alleged ties to the Chinese military. Those companies will be subject to a new U.S. investment ban that requires U.S. investors not to hold shares in those companies after Nov. 11 of this year, the report said. Top U.S. officials previously said the new executive order ensures that the United States retains key tools to safeguard U.S. investors from funding China’s military modernization.
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