U.S. imposes sanctions on Chinese officials, oil giant over South China Sea 'coercion'
U.S. imposes sanctions on Chinese officials, oil giant over South China Sea 'coercion'
By David Shepardson, Alexandra Alper and David Brunnstrom
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States announced sanctions on Chinese state-owned enterprise and military officials on Thursday and added Chinese oil giant CNOOC to a blacklist, accusing them using coercion against states with rival claims in the South China Sea.
The moves by the Trump administration will further increase tensions with China, Washington's strategic rival in Asia, days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20.
The United States has long opposed China's extensive territorial claims on the South China Sea, a potentially resource-rich area that is also a strategic trade route. Washington accuses Beijing of seeking to intimidate other Southeast Asian coastal states such as Vietnam and the Philippines that have competing claims there.
China says Washington has sought to stir up controversy over maritime sovereignty claims and tried to destabilize the region by sending warships and planes to the South China Sea.
"The United States stands with Southeast Asian claimant states seeking to defend their sovereign rights and interests, consistent with international law," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in announcing the sanctions.
"We will continue to act until we see Beijing cease its coercive behavior in the South China Sea."
A statement from Pompeo said the United States was imposing visa restrictions on Chinese individuals, including executives of state-owned enterprises and officials of the Chinese Communist Party and navy.
He said the sanctions were directed against those "responsible for, or complicit in, either the large-scale reclamation, construction, or militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea, or (China's) use of coercion against Southeast Asian claimants to inhibit their access to offshore resources in the South China Sea."
The restrictions could also apply to immediate family members, he said.
The Commerce Department accused CNOOC of harassing and threatening 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 department added CNOOC to an "Entity List" that requires firms to be granted a special license before they can receive exports of high-tech items from U.S. suppliers.
The department also said it was adding Chinese aviation firm Skyrizon to a Military End-User (MEU) List over its ability to develop military products including aircraft engines, restricting its access to U.S. exports.
The Trump administration added nine other Chinese firms to that blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies, including planemaker Comac and mobile phone maker Xiaomi, according to a document seen by Reuters.
CNOOC was added last month to that list, which forces American investors to divest their holdings of in them by Nov. 11, 2021.
Pompeo said China had used CNOOC and other state enterprises as weapons to attempt to enforce Beijing’s "unlawful 'Nine Dashed Line'" claim in the South Chine Sea. He said CNOOC had deployed a mammoth survey rig off the Paracel islands in 2014 in an attempt to intimidate Vietnam.
The Chinese embassy, CNOOC and a legal representative of Skyrizon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
CNOOC 'ACTS AS A BULLY'
President Donald Trump's administration has pursued a tough line on China and has kept up pressure in its final days, targeting what Washington sees as Beijing's bid to use corporations as a means to harness civilian technologies for military purposes.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said China's "reckless and belligerent actions in the South China Sea" were a threat to the security of the United States and of the international community.
"CNOOC acts 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," Ross said in a statement.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Alexandra Alper, Lisa Lambert, David Brunnstrom and Mike Stone in Washington; Additional Reporting by Brenda Goh in Beijing; Editing by Frances Kerry and Nick Macfie)
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US imposes new sanction on Beijing over South China Sea
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-imposes-sanction-beijing-over-173119086.html
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday imposed new sanctions on Chinese officials over Beijing's increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea. The penalties are yet another Trump administration move that may make President-elect Joe Biden's diplomacy with China more difficult when he takes office next week.
In its waning days, the Trump administration put in place travel bans on an unspecified number of Chinese officials and their families for what it said were violations of international standards regarding the freedom of navigation in those waters. The administration also said it was adding China's state oil company, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, to a list of companies with which U.S. citizens are banned from doing business.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the sanctions less than a week Inauguration Day, next Wednesday, in what is the latest in a series of last-minute U.S. moves against China.
“The United States stands with Southeast Asian claimant states seeking to defend their sovereign rights and interests, consistent with international law,” Pompeo said. “We will continue to act until we see Beijing cease its coercive behavior in the South China Sea.”
Since the fall of 2019, the administration has steadily pressured China over human rights issues in Tibet, Hong Kong and the western region of Xinjiang, as well as over trade, Taiwan and the Chinese response to the coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday, the administration banned the import to the U.S. of some agricultural goods, provoking an angry response from Beijing.
Thursday's move affects Chinese officials and others involved in South China Sea activities. The announcement did not specific which officials would be targeted but many may be covered under previous actions,
In July, Pompeo announced that the U.S. would reject virtually all of China's maritime claims in the South China Sea, which are disputed by most of China's smaller neighbors.
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https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-envoy-u-n-assures-044627452.html
U.S. stands by Taiwan, envoy says after cancelled trip
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft during a news conferenceBy Michelle Nichols and Ben Blanchard
NEW YORK/TAIPEI (Reuters) - The United States stands by Taiwan and always will, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft said following a call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who told her the island would continue to seek access to U.N. meetings.
Craft had planned to visit Taipei this week, in the teeth of strong objections from China which views the island as its own territory.
But the trip was cancelled by the State Department as part of a bar on all travel ahead of the transition to the incoming Biden administration.
Craft, who is due to leave the role when Joe Biden assumes the presidency next week, wrote on Twitter that it was a "great privilege" to speak to Tsai.
"We discussed the many ways Taiwan is a model for the world, as demonstrated by its success in fighting COVID-19 and all that Taiwan has to offer in the fields of health, technology and cutting-edge science," she said.
"Unfortunately, Taiwan is unable to share those successes in UN venues, including the World Health Assembly, as a result of PRC obstruction," Craft added, referring to the People's Republic of China.
"I made clear to President Tsai that the U.S. stands with Taiwan and always will, as friends and partners, standing shoulder to shoulder as pillars of democracy."
Craft's visit would have been highly symbolic as Taiwan is not a U.N. member due to China's objections. Beijing says only it has the right to speak for Taiwan on the world stage, something Taipei's democratically elected government rejects.
Tsai told Craft that Taiwan would keep pushing for access to the United Nations and U.N.-related meetings.
"We will continue to show that Taiwan is a force for good and vital partner to the world and we are able and determined to contribute to the international community," Tsai said on Thursday during the video conference, according to clips provided by her office.
"Moving forward we will keep pushing for our participation in the United Nations and U.N.-affiliated meetings and events and I hope that the United States will continue to support our efforts."
The Taiwan presidential office added that David Feith, Deputy U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs was also on the call.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the United Nations was made up of sovereign states and Taiwan had unfettered access to the World Health Oganization, which Taipei's government disputes.
"Certain U.S. politicians will pay a heavy price for their wrong words and deeds," Zhao told reporters.
China has been angered by stepped-up support for Taiwan from the administration of outgoing President Donald Trump, including trips to Taipei by top U.S. officials, further straining Sino-U.S. ties.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday said he was lifting restrictions on contacts between U.S. officials and their Taiwanese counterparts.
Craft's Taiwan trip appeared to be another part of an effort by Pompeo and Trump's Republican administration to lock in a tough approach to China before Democratic President-elect Biden takes office on Jan. 20.
(Reporting by Michelle Nicols and Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Cate Cadell in Beijing; Editing by Kim Coghill, Simon Cameron-Moore and Michael Perry)
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US cancels ambassador's controversial trip to Taiwan
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. State Department canceled the planned Taiwan visit by its U.N. ambassador that has drawn strong opposition and a warning from China.
The department announced it was canceling all senior-level overseas travels, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's planned trip to Belgium, in a decision to assist with the transition to the next administration.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Kelly Craft was due to begin a three-day visit Wednesday, which would have involved meetings with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu as well as delivering a speech.
Craft's trip was one of two moves in the twilight days of the Trump administration that increases official exchanges with the self-ruled island while also provoking China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory.
The U.S. and China have clashed on everything from the origins of the pandemic to Hong Kong. China had already warned the U.S. would pay a “heavy price" in response to the planned visit.
It follows an announcement from Pompeo on Saturday that the U.S. would remove longstanding restrictions on how its diplomats and others have contact with their Taiwanese counterparts.
Under the Trump administration and bipartisan support from Congress, relations with Taiwan has warmed up considerably, with the government increasing the frequency and quality of weapons sales to the island's government. Craft herself had a public lunch with Taiwan’s top official in New York, James K.J. Lee, director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, a meeting she called “historic.”
She would have been the third high-level U.S. official to visit Taiwan in recent months. In August last year, U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar became the highest-level U.S. Cabinet official to visit since the U.S. switched formal relations from Taiwan to China in 1979.
Taiwan is a sensitive issue for China’s ruling Communist Party, which considers the self-governing island democracy of 23.6 million people a renegade province that should be brought under its rule.
Under the “One China” policy, the U.S. recognizes Beijing as the government of China and doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. However, it maintains unofficial contacts including a de facto embassy in Taipei, the capital, and supplies military equipment for the island’s defense.
In Beijing, the Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office declined to say whether the cancellation of Craft’s visit was a positive sign for China-U.S. relations.
“Our position is very clear. We resolutely oppose all official exchanges between the U.S. side and the Taiwan area, demand the U.S. immediately cease their wrong approach,” spokesperson Zhu Fenglian told reporters at a biweekly news briefing.
An expert said the visit would have also presented a dilemma for the Taiwanese government.
“This is also a headache for Taiwan. If you welcome them in a large way, with high norms, then you are expressing that you are very very close to the Trump administration, and in the eyes of the coming Biden administration, that’s not good for Taiwan," said Yu-Shan Wu from Academia Sinica, a top research institution on the island.
Wu also noted that current policy moves could be reversed, pointing to the historic meeting between former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou and Chinese leader in 2015. “Back then, although Taiwan and China’s leaders met, this seemed to be a climax, but then the situation was completely reversed.”
In 2016, Taiwan elected independence-leaning Tsai Ing-wen as president, and China broke off contact with the government shortly after.
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US ambassador to UN and Taiwan's president meet virtually
Taiwan US Ambassador
In this image made from a video screen shows Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, top, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft meeting virtually on Wednesday night, Jan. 13, 2021. Craft's trip to Taiwan was canceled but Craft told Tsai: “The United States will always stand with Taiwan.” (The United States Mission to the United Nations via AP)UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Her trip canceled in the final days of the Trump administration, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft instead met virtually Wednesday night with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and told her: “The United States will always stand with Taiwan.”
And though she'll leave office with the president next week, Craft said she still hopes to visit the self-ruled island soon, calling Taiwan “a beacon and a lodestar” for its science, technology and democracy.
The announcement last week that Craft would visit Taiwan sparked sharp criticism from China's government, which considers Taiwan a renegade province and has stepped up threats to bring the island under its control.
China quickly condemned the virtual meeting, saying, “The United States should understand that the attempt to challenge the one-China principle receives no support and is doomed to fail,” in a statement from a spokesman for China’s Mission to the U.N. on Twitter.
American relations with Taiwan have warmed under President Donald Trump, largely due to strong bipartisan support in Congress, but also because the administration has been willing to defy Beijing’s threats and promote Taiwan as an alternative to Chinese Communist Party authoritarianism.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said Craft's trip would show “what a free China could achieve.” But on Sunday, he canceled all senior-level overseas travels, including his own, to assist with the transition to President-elect Joe Biden’s administration.
Tsai thanked Craft at the opening of the virtual meeting, which The Associated Press witnessed, “for the staunch support for Taiwan’s international participation and for your efforts to deepening of the Taiwan-U.S. relationship and ... for always speaking up for Taiwan at the most important times.”
“The people of Taiwan have been inspired by your action,” Tsai said. “Moving forward, we will keep pushing for our participation in the United Nations, and U.N. affiliated meetings and events, and I hope that the United States will continue to support our efforts.”
Taiwan left the United Nations in 1971 when China joined, and Beijing has been using its diplomatic clout to stop Taiwan from joining any organizations that require statehood for membership.
Craft called Taiwan “an inspiration for the world,” saying quite a number of U.N. member states — which she didn’t name — “should look at Taiwan, not for opportunities to exclude it, but for reasons to aspire to it.”
“In any context, by the standards of the free world, Taiwan is a model for democracy, equality for women, innovation and scientific exploration, a staunch defender of human rights,” she said.
“The United States stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Taiwan as pillars of democracy,” Craft added.
Tsai said she was looking for Craft’s advice on how to move forward on U.S.-Taiwan relations.
Craft told Tsai she had taught her the importance to “never mistake the present for the determination of the future.”
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Associated Press writer Huizhong Wu contributed to this report from Taipei, Taiwan.
