The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it has blacklisted China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment Co.
In a press release issued Thursday (Jan. 14), the Commerce Department said CNOOC was blacklisted because of its involvement in China’s efforts to intimidate its neighbors in the South China Sea, while Skyrizon was placed on the military end-user list because of “its ability to develop, produce or maintain military items, such as military aircraft engines.
The press release quoted U.S. Commerce Secretary Ross as saying that China’s reckless belligerence in the South China Sea and aggressive push to acquire sensitive intellectual property and technology for its militarization efforts is a threat to U.S. national security and the security of the international community. He said CNOOC’s bullying has allowed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to intimidate its neighbors and the Chinese military to continue to benefit from the government’s civil-military integration policy through malicious behavior.
The U.S. Department of Commerce said there has been no pause in China’s rapid construction of artificial islands since 2013, “which has allowed the Chinese Communist Party to militarize disputed outposts in the South China Sea and undermine the sovereignty of U.S. partners in the region.”
Ross said, “Beijing Tianjiao, a Chinese state-owned enterprise, poses a significant threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests by acquiring and localizing foreign military technology.” He added that the inclusion of Beijing Tianjiao on the military end-user list is intended to warn the export industry of the company’s close ties to the Chinese military.
Companies placed on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Entity List and Military End User List will be subject to U.S. sanctions, including export controls on sensitive commodities. They cannot acquire U.S. technology and goods without a license from the U.S. government. Export restrictions on products include export restrictions that apply to products different from computer software (such as word processing), scientific equipment (such as digital oscilloscopes) and aircraft parts.
The U.S. Department of Commerce published its first list of military end-users on its official website last Dec. 21. The list includes more than a hundred Chinese companies and Russian firms.
Earlier, CNOOC was blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Defense on Dec. 3 last year among companies with ties to the Chinese military. The White House said Jan. 13 that President Donald Trump signed a revised version of an executive order requiring Americans to get rid of all securities held by blacklisted companies by Nov. 11, 2021. The original version Trump issued last November restricted U.S. investors from buying securities of those companies only until Nov. 11, 2021.
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