US blacklists 24 Chinese companies

Earlier this week, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) introduced a fresh round of sanctions against China’s Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) amid allegations of human rights abuses.

The United States has blacklisted 24 Chinese companies over their alleged role in building military fortifications on artificial islands in the South China Sea, the US Commerce Department announced in a press release on Wednesday.

“Department of Commerce (Commerce) added 24 Chinese companies to the Entity List for their role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize the internationally condemned artificial islands in the South China Sea,” the release said.

“Despite protests from the United States and other countries, the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been rapidly building the artificial islands since 2013, enabling the Communist Chinese Party’s (CCP) militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea to undermine the sovereign rights of US partners in the region.”

At the same time, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US would ban certain Chinese nationals allegedly involved in the militarization of the South China Sea from entering the country.

“Today, the Department of State will begin imposing visa restrictions on People’s Republic of China (PRC) 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,” Pompeo said.