The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in the Department of Commerce added on January 14 that Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) to the Entity List and Chinese company Skyrizon to the Military End-User (MEU) List. Both companies threaten U.S. national security, CNOOC by helping China intimidate neighbors in the South China Sea and Skyrizon for its capability to develop, produce, or maintain military items, such as military aircraft engines. (Photos quoted from the U.S. Department of Commerce's official website)

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said “China’s reckless and belligerent actions in the South China Sea and its aggressive push to acquire sensitive intellectual property and technology for its militarization efforts are a threat to U.S. national security and the security of the international community.” “CNOOC acts as a bully for the People’s Liberation Army to intimidate China’s neighbors, and the Chinese military continues to benefit from government civil-military fusion policies for malign purposes.”

Despite protests from the United States and other countries, China has been rapidly building the artificial islands since 2013, enabling the Communist Chinese Party’s militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea to undermine the sovereign rights of U.S. partners in the region. CNOOC has repeatedly harassed and threatened offshore oil and gas exploration and extraction in the South China Sea, with the goal of driving up the political risk for interested foreign partners, including Vietnam.

The Chinese government fuels its military development, in part, through aggressive policies that allow it to access and replicate sensitive technologies for its militarization efforts.

Ross added “Skyrizon—a Chinese state-owned company—and its push to acquire and indigenize foreign military technologies pose a significant threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.”

The Entity List is a tool utilized by BIS to restrict the export, re-export, and transfer (in-country) of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to persons (individuals, organizations, companies) reasonably believed to be involved, or to pose a significant risk of becoming involved, in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.

(IRuniverse)