US court backs Chinese-owned company over wind farm project disputes

A U.S. federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. government violated a Chinese-owned company's rights when it rejected the company's bid to purchase U.S. wind farms.

U.S. President Barack Obama issued a presidential order in 2012 to prevent Ralls Corp. from owning four wind farms in Oregon, citing national security risks for their locations near the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility.

Ralls sued Obama for blocking its wind farm project purchase deal, claiming that the presidential order exceeded its constitutional rights and failed to provide detailed evidence.

"We conclude that the President Order deprived Ralls of its constitutionally protected property interests without due process of law," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in its ruling.

"Due process requires, at the least, that an affected party be informed of the official action, be given access to the unclassified evidence on which the official actor relied and be afforded an opportunity to rebut that evidence," the court said.

The company "was not given any of the procedural protections at any point," as the presidential order deprived Ralls of significant property interests valued at 6 million U.S. dollars, the court added.

The judgement, which overturned a lower court ruling last year, is a victory for the Chinese government and companies, which have called for more transparency in the U.S. national security review process.

The United States promised to apply the same rules and standards when reviewing foreign investment projects, and continue to review the procedure with China during the sixth Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED), which was concluded in Beijing last week.

Ralls Corp. is owned by two executives of Sany Group, China's largest machinery manufacturer.