US blocks Xiaomi and other Chinese companies to counter China

New Delhi, January 15: In a bid to heap up the pressure on Beijing, the U.S. Department of Defense blacklisted nine Chinese firms, including Chinese phone maker Xiaomi for their alleged connections with the Chinese military.

 

Apart from MI the list also includes the name of Oil giant Cnooc and state-owned plane manufacturer Commercial Aircraft of China (Comac). The Defense Department stated in an announcement that it’s “determined to highlight and counter” the connection between China’s navy and companies that “appear to be civilian entities” however which help the navy with superior expertise and experience.

 

 

 

"The Department is determined to highlight and counter the People's Republic of China's (PRC) Military-Civil Fusion development strategy, which supports the modernisation goals of the People's Liberation Army by ensuring its access to advanced technologies and expertise acquired and developed by even those PRC companies, universities, and research programs that appear to be civilian entities," the department said in a statement.

 

Talking about the decision, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said, “China’s reckless and belligerent actions in the South China Sea and its aggressive push to acquire sensitive intellectual property and technology for its militarization efforts are a threat to U.S. national security.”

 

“CNOOC acts as 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.”

 

"The United States stands with Southeast Asian claimant states seeking to defend their sovereign rights and interests, consistent with international law," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in announcing the sanctions.

The restricted companies will now be subject to a new US investment ban which forces American investors to divest holdings of the blacklisted firms by Nov. 11, 2021.

 

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has already banned imports of cotton and tomatoes from the Xinjiang region in China over Beijing’s use of forced labor.The U.S. imported $9 billion in cotton products and $10 million in tomatoes from China in 2019. On January 6, Trump had signed an executive order barring transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay and WeChat Pay to protect America’s national security.