Washington, DC [US] May 23 (ANI): Two senior Republican lawmakers in the United States have introduced new legislation aimed at blocking American investment in companies tied to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials and entities accused of supporting Beijing's military ambitions, as reported by The Epoch Times.

According to The Epoch Times, the proposed legislation, introduced by Senator Rick Scott and Representative Elise Stefanik, would require Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to update the Treasury Department's Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies (NS-CMIC) List within one year of identifying blacklisted Chinese individuals.

The NS-CMIC List, overseen by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, identifies companies believed to have links with China's military sector.

American investors are currently prohibited from purchasing or trading securities associated with companies on the list.

Lawmakers argued that the list has not been revised since 2021 despite growing national security concerns surrounding Chinese firms.

Under the proposed measure, the US President would also be required to submit a report to Congress every two years identifying Chinese individuals and entities eligible for sanctions.

The review process would draw information from several existing government blacklists, including the Department of Commerce's Entity List, the Pentagon's 1260H List, and the State Department's Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List.

Speaking about the legislation, Scott said the United States must stop allowing entities linked to the CCP's military establishment to benefit from American capital markets.

He described Communist China as a direct threat to US national security and said sanctions should be imposed swiftly once a company or individual is identified as a risk, as cited by The Epoch Times.

Stefanik also stressed the need to reduce America's economic dependence on Chinese firms, arguing that the bill would prevent delays in sanctioning companies tied to Beijing's military expansion and political influence.

Concerns over US investment in Chinese companies have intensified amid allegations that Beijing's military-civil fusion strategy enables civilian businesses and research institutions to support the modernisation of China's armed forces, as reported by The Epoch Times. (ANI)