The US government is considering a plan that would dissuade Americans from holding shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Buy BABA,
and Tencent Holdings Ltd. TCEHY,
according to The Wall Street Journal. The government is increasingly taking action against investments in companies that they say have ties to the Chinese military. The WSJ report, citing multiple anonymous sources, said the US government has debated whether restrictions on investment in Alibaba and Tencent would have far-reaching effects on the markets, and it remains uncertain whether the government will pursue such bans. . At the end of Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange once again turned its stance on whether it will scrap three Chinese telecommunications companies: China Telecom Corp. Ltd. CHA,
China Mobile Ltd. CHL,
and China Unicom CHU,
– from its stock exchanges as it seeks to comply with an executive order from President Trump that aims to prevent US investors from buying stock in companies alleged to have ties to the Chinese military. The New York Stock Exchange said last week it would drop the names before changing course earlier this week and later saying it would return to its original plans to delete the stock. US-quoted shares of Alibaba are down about 5% Wednesday afternoon, while those of Tencent are down more than 3%.