U.S. adds CNOOC to black list, saying it helps China intimidate neighbors (updated)

Commerce

14/01/2021 15:09

* Ross says China is "belligerent" in South China Sea
    * Beijing has accused Washington of destabilizing region
    * Alongside CNOOC, U.S. targets China's Skyrizon
    * U.S. says China uses civilian firms for military aims

 (Adds background)
    By David Shepardson and Alexandra Alper
    WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The Trump administration
added China's CNOOC to a U.S. economic blacklist on Thursday,
accusing the oil giant of helping Beijing intimidate neighbors
in the South China Sea and ratcheting up tension days before
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
    Alongside blacklisting CNOOC, the Commerce Department added
China's Skyrizon to the Military End-User (MEU) List over its
ability to develop military products including aircraft engines,
restricting its access to U.S. exports.
    CNOOC and a legal representative of Skyrizon did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
    The administration of President Donald Trump, who promised a
tough line on China on taking office, has kept up the pressure
in its final days, targeting what Washington sees as Beijing's
bid to use corporations as a means to harness civilian
technologies for military purposes.
    "China's reckless and belligerent actions in the South China
Sea and its aggressive push to acquire sensitive intellectual
property and technology for its militarization efforts are a
threat to U.S. national Security and the security of the
international community," said Wilbur Ross, secretary of the
Commerce Department, which oversees the so-called entity list.
    Companies on the entity list must be granted a special
license from the Commerce Department before they can receive
exports of high-tech items from U.S. suppliers.  
    The United States has long opposed China's expansive
territorial claims on the potentially resource-rich South China
Sea. Washington accuses Beijing of seeking to intimidate other
Southeast Asian coastal states.
    China says the United States has sought to stir up
controversy over maritime sovereignty claims in the area and has
tried to destabilize the region by sending U.S. military ships
and planes to the South China Sea.
    "CNOOC acts a bully for the People’s Liberation Army to
intimidate China's neighbors, and the Chinese military continues
to benefit from government civil-military fusion policies for
malign purposes," Ross added in the statement.
    The Commerce Department also accused CNOOC of harassing and
threatening offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction in
the South China Sea, "with the goal of driving up the political
risk for interested foreign partners, including Vietnam."
    Last month, CNOOC was added to a U.S. blacklist of alleged
Chinese military companies, forcing U.S. investors to shed their
holdings in the company by November 2021. 

 (Reporting by David Shepardson and Alexandra Alper in
Washington; Additional Reporting by Brenda Goh in Beijing;
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Edmund Blair)
 ((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))