Continuing Trump's Policy, President Joe Biden Adds 59 Chinese Companies To Blacklist

Huwaei is blacklisted as Chinese investors in the US. (Photo: Omid Armin/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Following the steps of Donald Trump, now the President of the United States (US) Joe Biden has also taken a tough stance on a number of technology companies from China.

As reported from abcnews.go.com, Biden banned investments in 59 Chinese companies including Huawei starting on August 2. The executive order also marks an extension of the Trump-era ban under which those who invest in Chinese companies are suspected of having ties to the Chinese military.

Quoting ABCNews, Sunday, June 6, the blacklist continues to grow over time, previously only 48 companies were included in the US trade black book, now increasing to a total of 59 businesses.

Among the companies that received the ban, apart from Huawei, were chipmaker SMIC, telecom operator China Mobile, video surveillance company Hikvision, and a large number of Chinese defense sector companies.

In addition to the investment ban, U.S. companies are prohibited from exporting or transferring technology to dozens of Chinese companies unless they have special government permits.

A senior US official even confirmed that more Chinese companies are likely to be added to the blacklist in the coming months.

Reason for Ban

The US government is not without reason to do this, because they have the view, the use of Chinese surveillance technology outside the PRC (People's Republic of China) and the development or use of China's surveillance technology to facilitate suppression or serious human rights violations, is a threat.

"Beyond the United States, against national security, foreign policy, the U.S. economy, and I hereby extend the scope of the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13959 to address these threats," Biden said.

With the new sanctions in place, Biden is reinforcing a tough stance on Chinese security and intelligence research firms, which culminated during former President Donald Trump's four-year term.

Investors who already hold shares in the 59 listed companies have one year to divest from them from the enactment of this rule.

However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin urged Washington to withdraw the order, and "must provide Chinese companies with a fair and non-discriminatory business and investment environment."

"China will take the necessary steps to firmly protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," Wenbin said.