Some 24 companies were placed on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List, which restricts exports to businesses abroad due to their “activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States,” effectively killing any ability for American businesses to trade or interact with them. The State Department simultaneously placed visa restrictions on individuals within some of those companies, barring them from traveling to the U.S.
The stated reason for their sanctioning is the companies’ role in China’s extensive dredging campaign in the South China Sea from 2014 to 2017, which saw China build massive artificial islands and military bases among the Spratly and Paracel archipelagoes to strengthen its claim to disputed waters and support the activities of its military, the People’s Liberation Army. China is currently holding military exercises around one of features, Woody Island.
