By Choekyi Lhamo
DHARAMSHALA, Aug. 27: The United States government has imposed sanctions on 24 Chinese companies for helping Beijing’s growing territorial claims in the South China Sea as the tension escalates between the two countries. The US Commerce Department on Wednesday said that the 24 state-sponsored companies must be held responsible in “helping the Chinese military construct and militarize the internationally condemned artificial islands in the South China Sea.”
The statement also added that the companies will be added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List which restricts American firms from selling US goods and technology without a special license. The US State Department simultaneously announced on Wednesday that it would impose visa restrictions on Chinese individuals “responsible for, or complicit in, either the large-scale reclamation, construction, or militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea, or the PRC’s use of coercion against Southeast Asian claimants to inhibit their access to offshore resources.”
Under such restrictions, the individuals will be barred from entering into the US and immediate family members could also be affected. It did not name the officials who have been sanctioned or specify how many of them have been subjected to such restrictions.
The Commerce Department said that since 2013, China has constructed more than 3,000 acres across the South China Sea that includes air defence and anti-ship missile features. It further said that the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) “led a destructive dredging” of Beijing’s outposts and is one of the main contractors in its Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative.
Chinese Foreign Minister Zhao Lijian accused the sanctions to be gross interference in China’s internal affairs, “The participation of Chinese enterprises and individuals in the country’s construction activities is reasonable and legal, and it is understandable. There is no reason for Chinese companies and individuals to participate in relevant illegal sanctions in their own country.”
China claims 1.3 million square mile of territory as its sovereign territory, which are contested by several other governments in the region, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and the self-governing island of Taiwan.
