Joe Biden expanded the list of Chinese companies that will not be able to receive investment from the United States

Joe Biden’s government decided to expand an order from the Donald Trump era What bans US investment in Chinese companies, said he supports Chinese military. This expansion includes companies that they sell surveillance technology, branding the entities a threat to the interests and values ​​of the United States. In total, Biden extended the ban to 28 other companies, bringing the total to 59 companies, the White House said Thursday.

A new decree will be published on Thursday Extends bans promulgated by the Trump administration and transfers prohibition authority to the Treasury Department of the Department of Defense, to give it a more solid legal basis, senior administration officials said The Washington Post. They spoke on condition of anonymity to advance the order before publication.

The new order “prevents U.S. investments from supporting China’s defense sector, while expanding the U.S. government’s ability to deal with the threat from contributing Chinese surveillance technology companies – both inside and outside of China. China – to monitor religious or ethnic minorities or otherwise facilitate repression and human rights abusesThe administration said in a fact sheet describing the ban, which takes effect Aug. 2.

Senior officials in the Biden administration said it was important to transfer the program to the Treasury Department because companies on the Trump administration’s Defense Department list, including smartphone maker Xiaomi, they had successfully challenged their inclusion in court.

The Biden administration does not include Xiaomi in the list of 59 companies banned that he unveiled Thursday.

Preserving certain aspects of Trump’s ban is another sign that Biden continues his predecessor’s tough approach to China.

“This seems to be another example of the Biden administration adopting a Trump policy and improving and extending it.“, He said Eric sayers, guest member of the American Institute of Business.

David Feith, a former Trump administration official, said the Trump-era policing and expansion of the Biden administration was “”something welcome”.

Most importantly, said Feith, former Assistant Under Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, “reflects the high degree of bipartisan concern in Washington regarding US capital flows and the US economic ties to the Chinese military and its extended security and surveillance status”.

Feith, now an associate researcher at the Center for a New American Security, said that transfer of executing authority from the Pentagon to the Treasury could complicate enforcement because “the Ministry of Defense has a fundamentally focused national security in things and the Treasury does not do it traditionally ”.

Biden’s order, like Trump’s, prohibits US investors from purchasing stocks or bonds issued by a number of Chinese companies.

Several of the companies linked to the army banned by Biden was also on Trump’s list, including the defense contractor China Electronics Technology Group Corp. and China Mobile Communications Group and China Telecommunications Corp.

Biden’s order also bans investment in two companies –Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co., Ltd. and Huawei Technologies Co.– on the grounds that they are selling surveillance technology. Trump had banned investments in these companies on the grounds that they supported the Chinese military.

Biden administration officials said they hope to put other companies on the list in the future.

A former US official said that “taking authority” from the Pentagon and transferring it to the Treasury is “marginalizing the Pentagon” andit will undermine efforts to curb Chinese abuses.

“The Treasury Department, which has come under enormous pressure from Wall Street on the issue, is focusing on the liquidity and depth of capital markets and is much less inclined to sanction Chinese companies.Said the official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.

Ellen Nakashima is a national security reporter for the Washington Post. He was a member of two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams, in 2018 for covering Russian interference in the 2016 election, and in 2014 and for reporting on the hidden scope of government surveillance.

Jeanne Whalen is a journalist who covers affairs around the world. He previously worked for the Wall Street Journal in New York, London and Moscow.

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