Barack Obama issued an Executive Order on September 28 that sought to block the acquisition of four American wind farm project companies by China owned Ralls Corporation. As a result of the EO, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday that Ralls Corporation is suing President Barack Obama.
In an amended lawsuit filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court in Washington, Ralls claims Obama exceeded his constitutional rights and acted in “an unlawful and unauthorized manner.”
Obama issued an executive order on Friday compelling Ralls Corp, a Delaware-incorporated company owned by executives from the China-based construction equipment company Sany Group, to divest all of its interests in the planned wind farms near the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility in Boardman, Oregon.
There is “credible evidence” that the Sany Group and Ralls “might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States,” Obama said in the order.
Ralls said Obama had not provided “any evidence or reasoned explanation” for his decision to use a national defense law in prohibiting the acquisition and ordering the company to divest the four wind farms.
A U.S. Navy training facility is within a five-mile radius of the airspace of the planned four wind farms. This presents a national security threat as the facility is used to conduct bombing and missile exercises, along with electronic combat training and the development and testing of drone technology.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) had previously blocked development of the wind farm project until it had conducted its investigation and delivered them to Obama. The result is the EO issued.
U.S. Treasury Department spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth Earnest said the Chinese company’s litigation was an exercise in futility since “the President’s actions are not subject to judicial review.”
