On September 15, the US Treasury Department accused the Union Development Group (UDG) of "ocuprating and destroying land of local Cambodians" to build Dara Sakor - a 36,000-hectare coastal resort complex including a golf course, casino, luxury resort, airport and wharf big enough for cruise ships.
According to the US Treasury Department, UDG has registered to impersonate a Cambodian company to build on protected national park land. The ministry said the company had forced Cambodians to flee their land and destroy the environment.
UDG was granted a 99-year lease for the project in 2008.
According to the Ministry of Finance, UDG has " Impeded local villagers from growing rice on disputed land".
According to SCMP, a 2012 report by the UN special Rapporteur accused UDG of relocating more than 1,000 households from their villages at that time and was viewed by locals as "extortion".
The report said: The affected communities were not asked for opinions on the project and its potential impacts, but had seen the companys representatives travel through their communes and survey land before signing the contract in 2008, the report said.
Recently, the US has repeatedly included Chinese companies in the list of trade sanctions. 24 Chinese companies participating in building artificial islands in the East Sea have been added to the sanctions list - the Washington Post reported on August 26.
The Three Gorges Dam operator and dozens of other Chinese companies that the US considers to be owned or controlled by the Chinese military have also faced the first US sanctions.
