The Trump administration is working to find a new owner for Westinghouse, the bankrupt US nuclear engineering group, to ensure that it does not fall under Chinese control.
One US official said the White House would move to stop Chinese companies playing central roles in any consortium that might buy Westinghouse from its parent Toshiba, but did not rule out the possibility that they could make a “passive investment”.
The official said the administration was “keenly aware” of the national security implications attached to the sale of the company, and was trying to pre-empt any possible blocking of a deal by making clear at an early stage that the US government would take a tough stance on any significant Chinese role.