The US government has barred Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. and China’s third-largest national oil company for apparent military links.
The Department of Defence listed nine Chinese companies with military links, including Xiaomi and state-owned plane manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (Comac).
US investors will have to uncover their shares in Chinese companies on the military list by November this year, according to an executive order signed by Trump in November.
Xiaomi Corp. which overtook Apple Inc. as the world’s No. 3 smartphone maker by sales in the third quarter of 2020 did not immediately respond to a request for comment. After it was blacklisted by the US and its smartphones were eliminated from essential services from Google.
The Commerce Department put China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) on the entity list, which is an economic blacklist that bars US firms from exporting or transferring technology with the companies listed unless permission has been granted by the US government. This was decided after about 60 Chinese companies were added to the list in December, including drone maker DJI and semiconductor firm SMIC. Chinese state-owned company Skyrizon was also counted to the economic blacklist, for its deeds to “acquire and indigenize foreign military technologies,”. Beijing Skyrizon Aviation drew US criticism for trying to take over Ukraine’s military aircraft engine maker Motor Sich in 2017. The concern was that advanced aerospace technology would end up being used for military purposes.
CNOOC has been a part in offshore drilling in the South China Sea, where Beijing has overlapping territorial claims with other countries including Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan, and Malaysia. US sees this as China’s aggressive push to claim sensitive intellectual property and technology for its militarisation efforts are a threat to US national security and the security of the international community.
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