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South China Sea: Chinese state firms could face US sanctions
- US assistant secretary of state hints at punitive action against state firms accused of ‘bullying’ regional neighbours
- Beijing has clashed repeatedly with rival claimants to the resources of the disputed waterway
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Several Chinese state-owned companies could be hit with US sanctions for their roles in expanding the nation’s presence in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
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David Stilwell, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, this week accused China of using its state-owned firms to bully its regional neighbours to secure oil and mineral reserves. He also hinted that the US might respond with sanctions against the officials and enterprises involved.
During a speech at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies on Tuesday, Stilwell named state-owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), which has helped to develop many of the man-made islands in the South China Sea, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), which has positioned a massive drilling rig in disputed waters also claimed by Vietnam.
While he did not say what the sanctions might involve, US Senator Marco Rubio earlier pushed for sanctions against a number of Chinese state-owned companies – including CNOOC, CCCC and two of its subsidiaries – demanding the US government block their assets in the US and exclude company officials from doing business in the US.
Stilwell’s comments came after Washington rejected China’s territorial claims to the South China Sea, raising the risk of a possible confrontation between the two countries.
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