US President Joe Biden on Thursday banned dozens of more Chinese firms to American investment, expanding on the list of firms banned by his predecessor Trump. The firms are off-limits to American investors over their links to Beijing's “military-industrial complex.”
Trump had prohibited Americans from buying stakes in 31 Chinese companies. With Biden adding 28 to the list, the total number of banned companies is 59. The companies have thought to be supplying or supporting China’s military and security apparatus.
Firms banned by China during the Trump administration include China Mobile, China Telecom, video surveillance firm Hikvision, and China Railway Construction Corp.
The Biden administration has pledged to take a more diplomatic approach in an attempt to ease relations between the two countries that have been strained over several reasons including trade, human rights violations by China and China not being transparent about the origins of the coronavirus.
Washington said the recent sanctions target involved in Chinese surveillance technology used to “’facilitate repression or serious human rights abuses,” which “undermine the security or democratic values of the United States and our allies,” AFP reported.
Previously a congressionally mandated Defense Department report would decide the sanctions and targets of the sanctions.
The Congress has shown a cross-party unity on the tough line against the Asian giant, to keep its attempts to gain global clout in check. The current move indicates that, while diplomats on various levels have started communications, the Biden administration isn’t in a hurry to make amends with China.
