SUMMARY
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The United States on Wednesday, August 26, announced sanctions and restrictions on two dozen Chinese companies and associated officials for taking part in building artificial islands in disputed waters in the South China Sea.
The 24 state-owned firms include subsidiaries of construction giant China Communications Construction Co., telecommunications firms and a unit of the China Shipbuilding Group.
The move was the latest step in Washington’s efforts to pressure Beijing over its military buildup in areas of the South China Sea where sovereignty is contested by several countries.
The US Commerce Department said the companies “enabled China to construct and militarize disputed outposts in the South China Sea.”
“Since 2013, the PRC (People’s Republic of China) has used its state-owned enterprises to dredge and reclaim more than 3,000 acres on disputed features in the South China Sea, destabilizing the region, trampling on the sovereign rights of its neighbors, and causing untold environmental devastation,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.
The 24 companies were placed on the Commerce Department’s “Entity List” which allows it to block exports of US goods and materials to them.
In addition, Pompeo said individuals associated with the South China Sea operations will be unable to obtain visas to visit the United States.
The names of the individuals were not made available.
China Construction & Communications Corporation (CCCC), was reported to have been involved in China’s reclamation of maritime features in the South China Sea, and its construction of military bases on features that were part of Southeast Asian states’ exclusive economic zones.
CCCC’s operations were also shown to have led to massive environmental damage in some of the world’s richest fishing grounds.
US East Asia and Pacific Affairs Assistant Secretary of State David Stillwell made a statement last July that touched on the possibility of sanctions, after the US branded expansive maritime claims across most of the South China Sea as “completely unlawful.”
The policy announcement was the strongest and most explicit support by Washington of the 2016 Hague ruling, which the Philippines won against China. – with a report from Sofia Tomacruz/Rappler.com
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