4 more Chinese firms to join Pentagon blacklist

WASHINGTON — Washington is poised to designate four more Chinese companies as backed by the Chinese military, sources said, curbing their access to US investors as the Trump administration seeks to cement its hawkish China legacy in its waning days.

The designations, which have not been previously reported, was to be released by the Department of Defence soon but may be unveiled this week, said one US official and one person familiar with the matter who declined to be named.

The White House and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The additions would bring the number of Chinese companies affected to 35. They include giants like Hikvision China Telecom and China Mobile, which were added earlier this year. The list of “Communist Chinese Military Companies” was mandated by a 1999 law requiring the Pentagon to compile a catalogue of companies “owned or controlled” by the People’s Liberation Army, but the defense department only complied this year.

The latest move would come just days after the White House published an executive order, first reported by Reuters, that sought to give teeth to the list by prohibiting US investors from buying securities of the blacklisted companies from November 2021.

However, the executive order is unlikely to deal the firms a serious blow, experts said, due to its limited scope, uncertainty about the stance of the incoming Biden administration and already-scant holdings by US funds. —