The US on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Chinese companies and nationals who have taken up “illegal” construction projects in the South China Sea as part of Beijing’s “expansionist agenda.”
China claims sovereignty over most part of the resource-rich South China Sea, rejecting counter claims of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
“Today, the Department of State will begin imposing visa restrictions” on Chinese individuals responsible for, or complicity in the large-scale reclamation, construction, or militarisation of disputed outposts in the South China Sea, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
Individuals coercing Southeast Asian claimants to inhibit their access to offshore resources will also be under the visa restrictions, Pompeo said.
