Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2025

US adds nine Chinese firms, including Xiaomi, to military blacklist

US adds nine Chinese firms, including Xiaomi, to military blacklist

The Defence Department added nine more firms on Thursday to its list of companies that it says have ties with the Chinese military.

The Trump administration stepped up efforts in its final days to crack down on China with new additions to a military blacklist, new sanctions aimed at pushing back on Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea and the addition of another Chinese corporate behemoth to its exports blacklist.

The Defence Department added nine more firms on Thursday to its list of companies that it says have ties with the Chinese military, rounding out the total to 44.

The firms include smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi and the state-owned plane maker Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), central to China’s goal of creating a narrow-body plane that can compete with Boeing and Airbus.

The Trump administration is unlikely to add more companies to its blacklist, said Keith Krach, undersecretary for economic growth, energy and environment in a briefing with reporters.


An ARJ21 aircraft of One Two Three Airlines (OTT Airlines) heads for a designated area before performing its first flight at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai, east China on December 28, 2020. The ARJ21 is manufactured by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac).


Krach pointed out that Chinese tech giants Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu are “highly strategic” to the Chinese military. On Wednesday, sources said the Trump administration scrapped plans to blacklist Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu.

The Commerce Department on Thursday also added Chinese National Overseas Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to a US economic blacklist, saying it had helped China intimidate neighbours in the South China Sea. The department designated Skyrizon as a Chinese military end-user list for “its capability to develop, produce or maintain military items, such as military aircraft engines”.

“China’s reckless and belligerent actions in the South China Sea and its aggressive push to acquire sensitive intellectual property and technology for its militarisation efforts are a threat to US national security and the security of the international community,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement on Thursday.

Also referencing CNOOC, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced visa restrictions on individuals, including “executives of state-owned enterprises and officials of the Chinese Communist Party and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, responsible for, or complicit in, either the large-scale reclamation, construction, or militarisation of disputed outposts” in the South China Sea.


Commerce Department on Thursday added Chinese National Overseas Oil Corporation to a US economic blacklist.


The edict, which builds on sanctions announced in August against Chinese companies involved in Beijing’s “militarisation” of outposts in the South China Sea, also targets those involved in “coercion against Southeast Asian claimants to inhibit their access to offshore resources in the South China Sea”, according to the announcement.

“The United States and all law-abiding nations share a deep interest in the preservation of a free and open South China Sea,” Pompeo said. “All nations, regardless of military and economic power, should be free to enjoy the rights and freedoms guaranteed to them under international law, as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, without fear of coercion.”

A Hague tribunal in 2016 ruled that Beijing’s claims to much of the waters in the South China Sea had no legal basis and violated the 1982 international convention.

“The United States stands with Southeast Asian claimant states seeking to defend their sovereign rights and interests, consistent with international law. We will continue to act until we see Beijing cease its coercive behaviour in the South China Sea,” Pompeo said in Thursday’s statement.

In August, the Commerce Department added 24 Chinese state-owned firms, including China Communications Construction Company Dredging Group Company (CCCC Dredging) to an “entity list” of companies that US firms are not allowed to transact with unless they have a special licence to do so.

Satellite images analysed by defence consultancy IHS Jane’s in 2016 showed that a subsidiary of CCCC Dredging operated most of the giant barges digging sand from the seabed and piling it on remote coral atolls in the South China Sea, including Mischief Reef, Subi Reef and Fiery Cross Reef, which are also claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam.

The administration has ratcheted up tension with China as president Trump’s term enters a final week, moving to expand on policies against China to address Washington’s heightened concerns over China’s advancements in tech and military and the threats they may pose on American national security.

One narrative is that the administration’s rush to announce these last-minute measures is a way to make unwinding of the policy difficult for the Joe Biden administration.

But Biden also has South China Sea and Xinjiang forced labour concerns, issues that were touched upon by these measures, said at least one analyst.

“Biden is likely to take enforcement of measures against forced labour even further,” said Andrew Bishop, global head of policy research at advisory firm Signum Global Advisors.

“However, Biden will be quite generous with issuing individual licences to exporters who may need to continue working with companies, like CNOOC,” said Bishop.

And the forced divestments of companies that Washington says have ties to the Chinese military “could be postponed possibly indefinitely” under Biden, said Bishop.

In a development of the trading bans on firms that Washington considers military companies, Trump late Wednesday signed a new executive order in an effort to clarify how US investors should divest their holdings in blacklisted Chinese firms after an initial order caused confusion in the markets.

The clarifications came after Wall Street struggled to follow the initial executive order signed by Trump on November 12. The president’s initial order, which remains in effect, indicated that new purchases in affected companies would be banned starting January 11.

It is unclear whether the new clarification will resolve the wave of questions that financial companies have raised in the past weeks over how to comply with the order.

The current blacklist includes Huawei Technologies Co., China Railway Construction Corporation and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology.

The amended order also stressed that the rules apply to any subsidiary of these Chinese companies unless the Treasury Secretary removes a particular subsidiary from the list.

The New York Stock Exchange a week ago made two reversals on its plan to delist subsidiaries of three Chinese telecommunications carriers – China Mobile
, China Telecom and China Unicom (Hong Kong) – as it sought for clarity whether subsidiaries of the blacklisted companies were affected.

Shares of these three companies gyrated as Wall Street struggled to follow the initial rules that were unclear on whether subsidiaries were included.

Causing confusion was a Treasury Department statement on December 28 that narrowed the definition of the affected entities to exclude subsidiaries unless specifically included by the agency, contradicting the language in the initial executive order.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
China Accuses US of Violating Trade Truce
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
France Implements Nationwide Outdoor Smoking Ban to Protect Children
German Chancellor Merz Keeps Putin Guessing on Missile Strategy
Mandelson Criticizes UK's 'Fetish' for Abandoning EU Regulations
British Fishing Boat Owner Fined €30,000 by French Authorities
Dutch government falls as far-right leader Wilders quits coalition
Harvard Urges US to Unfreeze Funds for Public Health Research
Businessman Mauled by Lion at Luxury Namibian Lodge
Researchers Consider New Destinations Beyond the U.S.
53-Year-Old Doctor Claims Biological Age of 23
Trump Struggles to Secure Trade Deals With China and Europe
Russia to Return 6,000 Corpses Under Ukraine Prisoner Swap Deal
Microsoft Lays Off Hundreds More Amid Restructuring
Harvey Weinstein’s Publicist Embraces Notoriety
Macron and Meloni Seek Unity Despite Tensions
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Newark Mayor Sues Over Arrest at Immigration Facility
Center-Left Candidate Projected to Win South Korean Presidency
Trump’s Tariffs Predicted to Stall Global Economic Growth
South Korea’s President-Elect Expected to Take Softer Line on Trump and North Korea
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Ukraine Executes Long-Range Drone Strikes on Russian Airbases
Conservative Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election
Study Identifies Potential Radicalization Risk Among Over One Million Muslims in Germany
Good news: Annalena Baerbock Elected President of the UN General Assembly
Apple Appeals EU Law Over User Data Sharing Requirements
South Africa: "First Black Bank" Collapses after Being Looted by Owners
Poland will now withdraw from the EU migration pact after pro-Trump nationalist wins Election
"That's Disgusting, Don’t Say It Again": The Trump Joke That Made the President Boil
Trump Cancels NASA Nominee Over Democratic Donations
Paris Saint-Germain's Greatest Triumph Is Football’s Lowest Point
OnlyFans for Sale: From Lockdown Lifeline to Eight-Billion-Dollar Empire
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
×