[ad_1]
NEW YORK: The New York Stock Exchange has begun the process of delisting three Chinese telecommunications companies as it seeks to comply with an order from the Trump administration that prohibits investment in companies linked to the Chinese military.
It comes as relations between the world’s two largest economies spiral downward through pain points ranging from trade and coronavirus to Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Trading in China Mobile Communications, China Telecommunications Corp and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited will end within the next week, subject to settlement of transactions, the exchange said in a statement on Friday (January 1).
LEE: US blocks imports of cotton from ‘slave labor’ from Xinjiang
In November, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning Americans from investing in Chinese companies that allegedly supply or support Beijing’s military and security apparatus, earning a strong reprimand from China.
The order listed 31 companies that it said China was using for the “growing exploitation” of US investment capital to finance military and intelligence services, including the development and deployment of weapons of mass destruction.
It was one of a series of executive orders and regulatory actions that have targeted China’s economic and military expansion in recent months.
Trump’s order prohibits US companies and individuals from owning shares in any of the 31 companies, which also include video surveillance firm Hikvision and China Railway Construction Corp.
National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien said at the time that the order would prevent Americans from unknowingly providing passive capital to Chinese companies, listed on exchanges around the world, that support the upgrading of the military and the Beijing spy agencies.
Under his “America First” banner, Trump has portrayed China as the biggest threat to America and global democracy, waged a trade war with it, harangued Chinese tech companies, and blamed Beijing for the pandemic of coronavirus.
Other index providers, including MSCI Inc, S&P Dow Jones Indices, and Nasdaq, have removed several Chinese companies from their lists.
