CHINESE FIRM SUES US GOVERNMENT

Submitted by ub on

A Chinese-owned windmill firm in the US has filed a law suit against President Barack Obama for blocking a wind farm deal the administration says is as a result of national security grounds.

Ralls Corp, a private firm, acquired four wind farm projects near a US naval facility in Oregon earlier this year. However, President Obama signed the order blocking the deal last week. The lawsuit alleges the US government overstepped its authority. This is the first foreign investment project to be blocked in the US for 22 years.

Xinhua, the state run Chinese News Agency accuses the US administration of China-bashing to woo voters. Mr Obama has been criticized by GOP candidate Mitt Romney for not taking a tough enough line with China over trade and investment practices saying he will label China as a currency manipulator" if he wins the November election.

US politicians have long alleged that China keeps its currency artificially low giving its exports an unfair advantage and, in turn, costing the US jobs. That is denied by Beijing.

But many Chinese officials are now used to the four-year election cycle when increasingly China has become the whipping post.

The move forces Ralls Corp to divest its stake in these projects, which were located near restricted airspace used by the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility. Ralls Corp's complaint, filed this week, alleges that the US president is acting in an unlawful and unauthorized manner.