China

State Dept. sanctions Chinese, HK officials and entities for supporting Iran

Published

3 years ago

October 19, 2020

The U.S. Department of State announced Monday afternoon that it has imposed sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials and entities for supporting Iran‘s cargo shipping entity Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and its subsidiary, Hafez Darya Arya Shipping Company (HDASCO). IRISL is critical to the regime’s ballistic missile, nuclear, and military programs.

The press release cites a United Nations resolution that affects IRISL in justifying these sanctions.

“A provision of UN Security Council Resolution 1929 mandates vigilance when doing business with IRISL and entities owned or controlled by IRISL under certain circumstances,” the press release says. “This provision is now in effect due to the snapback of UN sanctions.”

The sanctions are directed at six entities and two officials for conduct violating the aforementioned rule and that the State Department would carry these out in accordance with Section 1244 of the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act enacted in June.

The entities receiving these sanctions are Reach Holding Group (Shanghai) Company Ltd.; Reach Shipping Lines; Delight Shipping Co., Ltd.; Gracious Shipping Co. Ltd.; Noble Shipping Co. Ltd.; and Supreme Shipping Co. Ltd. The press release claims that they all “knowingly sold, supplied, or transferred to Iran significant goods or services used in connection with the shipping sector of Iran.” The latter four, according to the State Department, “each knowingly sold, supplied, or transferred a large container vessel to Iran to be used in connection with the shipping sector of Iran.”

As for the two individuals, they are the CEOs of Reach Holding Group (Shanghai), Eric Chen, and the company’s president, Daniel Y. He.

This all follows the State Department on June 8 designating IRISL and E-Sail Shipping Company Ltd., IRISL’s Shanghai-based subsidiary, “for their proliferation-related conduct” and warning that any stakeholders who continue to be involved with these entities are “at risk of sanctions.”

Additionally, according to the State Department, Reach Holding and its subsidiary, Reach Shipping, “provided services to IRISL, E-Sail, and HDASCO to help these Iranian shipping entities evade the consequences of U.S. sanctions.”

The Department echoed their stern warning to stakeholders in these companies again at the end of the press release, saying: “Today, we reiterate a warning to stakeholders worldwide: If you do business with IRISL, you risk U.S. sanctions.”

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

Related Topics:china Iran sanctions State Department

China

Electric Vehicle company with Chinese ties awarded $500 million of taxpayer money for 2nd U.S. plant

Published

2 weeks ago

September 18, 2023

Sara Carter Staff

With a little help from their Democrat friends, a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party just announced the opening of its second plant in the United States.

Fox News reports Gotion Inc., whose parent company Gotion High-Tech is based in Hefei, China, unveiled plans to build a $2 billion lithium battery plant in Manteno, Illinois, alongside Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who cheered the project.

The announcement comes amid growing opposition to the company’s plans to build a billion-dollar factory in Mecosta County, Michigan.

In order to make the expansion happen, lobbyists for the Chinese Communist Party-tied electric vehicle company funneled cash to Democrats. “Individuals at a law firm registered as foreign agents to lobby on behalf of Gotion, a Chinese electric vehicle battery company developing a controversial project in Michigan, and wired campaign contributions to several top Democrats” reports Fox News.

“According to state and federal filings, Monique Field-Foster, an attorney at the Lansing office of the Warner Norcross + Judd law firm who is acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Gotion, donated to the campaigns of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Whitmer’s sister Liz Gereghty and Michigan Democratic Senate hopeful Rep. Elissa Slotkin” the Fox News report continued.

“With the right incentives, nation-leading infrastructure, world-class workforce and booming clean energy production, we have transformed ourselves into an attractive location for global manufacturers. Today, we take another leap forward. It’s my pleasure to welcome Gotion to Illinois and to show the world yet again that Illinois is ready to be a player on the world stage.”

Pritzker delivered remarks late last week thanking Gotion for choosing Illinois to call “home” in a ceremony with leaders from Gotion High-Tech, including Li Zhen, the company’s chairman and president, who said he expected the factory to open in less than 12 months.

“All that we see here [in Illinois] are of enormous value to us: an enabling business environment, a supportive state government for the new energy industry and their highly efficient work, as well as the prospects of the State of Illinois in the coming years,” the Gotion president added. “We believe that Gotion’s battery technology will help to boost e-mobility in North America and the economic and trade exchanges between China and the U.S.”