The United Kingdom's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation published updates to its sanctions listings. For its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida listings, OFSI amended the information for Noureddine Ben Ali Ben Belkassem Al-Drissi. For Xinjiang, China-related restrictions, the agency amended the information for Mingguo Chen, Mingshan Wang, Junzheng Wang and Hailun Zhu.
The United Kingdom sanctioned Myanmar Economic Corp. for its role in making funds available to the Myanmar military and its association with senior military figures, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced in an April 1 news release. MEC becomes the latest to be sanctioned following the military coup in the Southeast Asian nation and the subsequent crackdown on peaceful protests (see 2102190057). The conglomerate's assets in the U.K. will be frozen, and U.K. nationals will be barred from dealing with funds owned or controlled by MEC, the release said. “The UK’s latest actions target one of the military’s key funding streams and impose a further cost on them for their violations of human rights,” Raab said.
The European Union extended its sanctions against Bosnia and Herzegovina for one year until March 31, 2022, according to a March 26 European Council decision. Although no one is listed under the sanctions regime, the EC said it is reserving its right to add names to the list should an individual or entity threaten Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty or security. The council also extended until March 31, 2023, the mandate of Operation Irini -- an effort in the Mediterranean to implement the United Nations arms embargo on Libya. The extension of the operation, which also works to monitor and gather information on illegal Libyan exports of oil, was announced in a March 26 news release.
The U.S. is ceding its strategic and trade advantages in the Indo-Pacific to China, which is expanding its influence through technology exports and outbound technology investments, the Center for a New American Security said in a March 31 report. The Joe Biden administration can reverse the trend through closer cooperation with allies in the region, including Japan and India, which have been willing to deny certain Chinese investments and object to coercion attempts, CNAS said.
The United Kingdom's Department of International Trade published guidance on how academics should comply with export control measures for their research. The agency is especially concerned with how research could be co-opted for military purposes or for the development or delivery of weapons of mass destruction, and targeted its guidance to researchers who work with overseas colleagues on research, take their work overseas or export their technology. The guidance covers the areas in which research is at risk of requiring an export license, including aeronautical and space technology, nuclear technologies, applied physics, biotechnology, and telecommunications and information technology.
Newly confirmed Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo interviewed Chinese technology expert James Mulvenon to head the Bureau of Industry and Security, Reuters reported March 30. It’s unclear whether the interview will lead to a “vetting” for the undersecretary post, the report said, or how many others will be interviewed. A BIS spokesperson declined to comment.
Venezuela was denied a stay of a more than $234 million arbitration award payment to Luxembourg-based steel pipe and tube supplier Tenaris S.A. since the stay would be redundant due to current restrictions on the payment, a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in a March 29 decision. Due to current Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions on Venezuela, enforcement of the award cannot be completed until Tenaris receives a license from OFAC or until U.S. sanctions on Venezuela are lifted entirely. Judge Carl Nichols found that with the OFAC restrictions, Venezuela is not required to pay until Tenaris receives the agency's permission, so a stay “does nothing to alter the status quo.” The arbitration payment was awarded to Tenaris by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes for Venezuela's expropriation of Tenaris assets without compensation.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed four Venezuela-related entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List, according to a March 31 notice. The agency deleted AMG S.A.S. di Alessandro Bazzoni & C., AMG S.A.S. di Alessandro Bazzoni and C., AMG S.A.S. di Alessandro Bazzoni E C. and Serigraphiclab di Bazzoni Alessandro. OFAC sanctioned the entities in January because they are owned by Alessandro Bazzoni, whom the agency said was involved in a Venezuelan sanctions evasion network (see 2101190017). OFAC didn’t comment.
The State Department will urge the Treasury Department to not renew a Belarus-related general license following the country’s disputed presidential elections last year and its violent crackdown on peaceful protester (see 2012230030), an agency spokesperson said. The general license, which has been renewed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control every year since 2015, authorizes certain transactions with nine Belarusian entities and is scheduled to expire April 26.
The State Department on March 31 issued its annual report to Congress certifying that Hong Kong doesn’t warrant differential treatment from mainland China under U.S. law. The report follows a determination last year by the Trump administration that Beijing’s so-called national security law was infringing upon Hong Kong’s autonomy, which led to a series of U.S.-imposed trade restrictions, sanctions and export controls (see 2005270026, 2012220053 and 2103170027). Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. will continue to work with Congress and allies “to stand with people in Hong Kong against [China’s] egregious policies and actions.”