Biden bans investment in dozens of China companies

(MENAFN - Gulf Times) President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that bans US entities from investing in dozens of Chinese companies with alleged ties to defence or surveillance technology sectors. The move, which his administration says expands the scope of a legally flawed Trump-era order, drew anger from Beijing. The treasury department will enforce and update on a ''rolling basis” the new list of about 59 companies, which bars buying or selling publicly traded securities in target companies, and replaces an earlier list from the department of defence, senior administration officials told reporters. The order prevents US investment from supporting the Chinese military-industrial complex, as well as military, intelligence, and security research and development programmes, Biden said in the order. ''In addition, I find that the use of Chinese surveillance technology outside the PRC and the development or use of Chinese surveillance technology to facilitate repression or serious human rights abuse constitute unusual and extraordinary threats,” Biden said, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China. Major Chinese firms included on the previous defence department list were also placed on the updated list, including Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC), China Mobile Communications Group, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co, Huawei Technologies and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC). SMIC is key to China’s national drive to boost its domestic chip sector. ''We fully expect that in the months ahead...we’ll be adding additional companies to the new executive order’s restrictions,” one of the senior officials said. A second official told reporters that the inclusion of Chinese surveillance technology companies expanded the scope of the Trump administration’s initial order last year, which the White House argues was carelessly drafted, leaving it open to court challenges. ''The US government is stretching the concept of national security, abusing national power and using every possible means to suppress and restrict Chinese enterprises,” said Wang Wenbin, a spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry. ''We are firmly opposed to this,” Wang told reporters at a regular briefing yesterday, urging the US to withdraw the list. Biden has been reviewing a number of aspects of US policy toward China, and his administration had extended a deadline for implementation set by former president Donald Trump’s order while it crafted its new policy framework. The move is part of Biden’s broader series of steps to counter China, including reinforcing US alliances and pursuing large domestic investments to bolster American economic competitiveness, amid increasingly sour relations between the world’s two biggest economies. Biden’s Indo-Pacific policy co-ordinator, Kurt Campbell, said last month that a period of engagement with China had come to an end and that the dominant paradigm in bilateral ties going forward would be one of competition. Senior officials said the treasury department would give guidance later on what the scope of surveillance technology means, including whether companies are facilitating ''repression or serious human rights abuses.” ''We really want to make sure that any future prohibitions are on legally solid ground. So, our first listings really reflect that,” a second senior administration official said. Chinese investors shrugged off the list, with most of the stocks named, including newly-added ones, making gains yesterday.MENAFN05062021000067011011ID1102214281