Newsinc24 Team 
US has expanded a blacklist of Chinese firms that are off-limits to American investors over their links to Beijing's "military-industrial complex. " This action of president Joe Biden is being seen a sign of Washington's continued pressure campaign against China. The latest batch of sanctions target companies 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," according to a White House statement. Former US president Donald Trump had prohibited Americans from buying stakes in 31 Chinese companies that were deemed to be supplying or supporting China's military and security apparatus, and Biden's move expands the blacklist to 59.
But after legal challenges put the sanctions in doubt, Biden's team reviewed the blacklist, removing some names and ultimately expanding it to 59 firms that Americans are prohibited from having a stake in. Many are subsidiaries of companies already included. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) was added in January -- causing S&P to remove the company from its stock index -- and remains on Biden's list.The investment ban takes effect August 2 and current shareholders have a year to divest. A tough line on China has rare cross-party support in Congress, with lawmakers determined to keep a lid on its growing global clout.
Before the US order was released, Beijing repeated its outrage at the Trump-era blacklist Thursday and vowed to protect Chinese companies' rights, claiming the blacklist was "politically motivated" and "ignores the facts and actual situation" of the firms involved.The ban "severely undermines normal market rules and order" and "damages... the interests of global investors, including US investors," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a routine briefing.Previously, the sanctions and choice of targets were tied to a congressionally mandated Defense Department report.
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