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Trump imposes sanctions on Chinese Stabroek Block partner
CNOOC’s logo at its Beijing HQ, in April 2018. (Reuters)
Kaieteur News – Just one week away from his removal from office, United States President Donald Trump has imposed another set of fresh sanctions on some Chinese officials and firms, including ExxonMobil’s Chinese partner in the Stabroek Block, CNOOC Limited. The company has a 25 percent stake in the lucrative Guyana asset, while ExxonMobil and Hess have 45 percent and 30 percent stakes respectively. Reuters reported the sanctions, noting that they are for alleged misdeeds in the South China Sea.
America’s claim is that executives of Chinese state enterprises, officials of the Chinese Communist Party and military are using coercion against states with rival claims in the South China Sea. It claims CNOOC is linked to the Chinese military.
Reuters reported the US Commerce Department’s Secretary Wilbur Ross as calling China “a bully for the People’s Liberation Army to intimidate China’s neighbours.”
Notably, the restrictions would not apply to crude, refined fuels and liquid natural gas and do not apply to existing joint ventures with CNOOC that do not operate in the South China Sea, Senior US officials told reporters. This means that Stabroek Block operations would be unaffected.
In announcing the sanctions, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said “The United States stands with Southeast Asian claimant states seeking to defend their sovereign rights and interests, consistent with international law.”
Pompeo said that the US was imposing visa restrictions on key executives linked to the Chinese Communist Party, military, and companies, specifically for those “responsible for, or complicit in, either the large-scale reclamation, construction, or militarization of disputed outposts in the South China Sea, or use of coercion against Southeast Asian claimants to inhibit their access to offshore resources.”
Reuters said Chinese foreign military spokesperson Zhao Lijian registered China’s rejection of the new sanctions, saying “This action is against the trend of the times and is against its self-touted market competition and international economic trade rules.”
Meanwhile, Reuters said the US has added more countries to another blacklist which CNOOC was already placed on, since last month. Addition to the list subjects the companies to a November 12 executive order from Trump which banned Americans from investing in firms it deems tied to the Chinese military, and requires Americans to divest any current holdings.
The grounds of the order state that China “is increasingly exploiting the United States capital to resource and to enable the development and modernization of its military, intelligence, and other security apparatuses…”
China rejected this move as well. It had no bearing on Stabroek block business, but CNOOC said in its 2019 annual report that its American firms may be ordered to sever ties with it.
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