Obama blocks Chinese company from owning four wind farms
October 25, 2012 Category Alternative energy, Environment
Citing national security risks, U.S. President Barack Obama blocked China’s Ralls Corp from owning four wind farm projects in northern Oregon near the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility in Boardman, where the U.S. military flies unmanned drones and the EA-18G “Growler” electronic warfare planes on training missions. Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney has accused Obama of not being tough enough with China. “The move has once again revealed the hypocrisy of U.S. politics and double standard on so-called welcoming foreign investment,” Xinhua news agency commented. In his decision, Obama ordered Ralls Corp, a company owned by Chinese nationals, to divest its interest in the wind farms it purchased earlier this year. Ralls notified the authorities of the acquisition on June 28, and a 30-day review period began the next day. If the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) concludes that national security risks cannot be mitigated, the case is referred to the President, who has the sole authority to prohibit a transaction. The last time a American President used the law to block a transaction was in 1990, when President George H.W. Bush voided the sale of Mamco Manufacturing to a Chinese agency. The Treasury Department said that Obama’s decision is specific to this transaction and does not set a precedent for other foreign direct investment in the U.S. by China or any other country, the Shanghai Daily reports.
Chinese-owned company Ralls has sued U.S. President Barack Obama over his decision to bar its Oregon wind-farm project as a national security risk, claiming the order violates its constitutional rights. “The physical and regulatory takings of Ralls’s property interests constitute unconstitutional takings in violation of the U.S. Constitution, deprive Ralls of its property interests absent due process, and violate Ralls’s constitutional right to equal protection,” according to an amended complaint. Ralls, which is owned by executives of Sany Group, was seeking to place Sany-made wind turbines at the Oregon installations after buying land and other rights earlier this year. The assets consisted of four sites near or within restricted navy air space, the Treasury Department said. Obama ordered Ralls to remove all property and installations from its sites within two weeks and divest all of its interests in the wind-farm project within 90 days. The amended complaint also includes claims that Obama acted beyond the powers of the presidency. “Ralls seeks only fair treatment under the law and the constitution”, said Tim Xia, a lawyer who represents Ralls. Sany Group is the owner of China’s biggest machinery maker. Duan Dawei, Sany’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Wu Jialiang, Vice President of the group and General Manager of Sany Electric, a group unit, own Ralls, according to court filings. Sany Group said that it will “fight to the very end” in its lawsuit against the U.S. President. “If in the end Sany wins this lawsuit, it would be a true triumph of the U.S. legal system, for it will be viewed as the best demonstration for the world to know that the United States is indeed a country where legitimate investments will be protected by the constitution regardless of where they come from,” Wu Jialiang, Deputy General Manager of Sany Group and CEO of Ralls Corp said.
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