China’s Ralls Corporation has sued U.S. President Barack Obama for blocking its wind farm deal, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday.
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.
The Naval training facility is used to test electronic combat training, conduct bombing and missile exercises, and develop and test drone technology, according to federal environmental records.
The four planned wind farms are within a five-mile (8-kilometer) radius of the airspace used by the nearby U.S. Navy facility.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which reviews foreign investment projects for possible threats to national security, had blocked development of the project this summer pending its investigation and delivery of its recommendations to Obama.
The order, which marked the first time in more than two decades that a U.S. president has blocked such a deal involving foreign investment, comes just weeks before the November 6 presidential election. Obama has faced criticism from Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney that the president has been soft in dealing with China.
U.S. Treasury Department spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth Earnest has said pursuing litigation could be an exercise in futility for the Chinese company.
“The CFIUS statute clearly states that the President’s actions are not subject to judicial review,” she said.
