(TibetanReview.net, Jun04’21) – China’s hope for a more accommodating Joe Biden presidency has been dashed with the latter not only continuing former President Donald Trump’s tariffs on its goods but also greatly increasing on Jun 3 the number of Chinese companies banned from US investment.
Biden on Jun 2 signed an executive order that prohibited Americans from owning or trading any securities tied to 59 Chinese companies, citing the threat of Chinese surveillance technology, reported edition.cnn.com Jun 4. It noted that the original order, signed by former President Donald Trump in Nov2020, applied to 31 Chinese companies that the administration said “enable the development and modernization” of China’s military and “directly threaten” US security.
Biden’s new order will go into effect on Aug 2.
The report noted that many companies that were on Trump’s list — including smartphone maker Huawei and Hikvision, a major manufacturer and suppliers of video surveillance equipment — remained on this one. Some of the country’s biggest telecommunications companies, including China Mobile, China Telecommunications and China Unicom, were also still banned.
The report cited the White House as saying the decision to expand the scope of the order was due to the “unusual and extraordinary threats” posed by Chinese surveillance technology. The decision “allows the United States to prohibit — in a targeted and scoped manner — US investments in Chinese companies that undermine the security or democratic values of the United States and our allies.”
China has condemned the US move, with its foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin telling a regular briefing on Jun 3 that the move severely undermined normal market rules and order and damaged the interests of global investors. He added that the blacklist is “politically motivated” and “ignores the facts and actual situation” of the firms involved, reported China’s official news.cgtn.com Jun 4.
The ban will weigh on the Chinese companies listed on the Wall Street, and may make companies more cautious in offering stocks on the US bourses, John Gong, professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics, was cited as saying.