Bloomberg | | Posted by Ritu Maria Johny
The US is including six Chinese language corporations to an export blacklist over what it argues are hyperlinks to a military-backed international balloon espionage program, the Commerce Division mentioned, after a high-altitude balloon traversed the US earlier than being shot down final week.
The six corporations had been added to the record for his or her hyperlinks to the Individuals’s Liberation Military aerospace applications “together with airships and balloons and associated supplies and elements,” the division mentioned. It mentioned the Chinese language army is utilizing high-altitude balloons “for intelligence and reconnaissance actions” that go in opposition to US national-security pursuits.
The designations had been introduced after the alleged Chinese language spy balloon was recognized over Montana final week earlier than it transited the US and was shot down off the coast of South Carolina. China has insisted the balloon was a weather-monitoring system that blew off beam, and has accused the US of over-hyping the episode.
President Joe Biden mentioned the alleged espionage incident didn’t materially damage US-China relations, however that it was a violation of US sovereignty and that the US would arise for its nationwide safety in opposition to such threats. He’s come beneath hearth from Republican lawmakers who mentioned the balloon ought to have by no means been allowed to traverse the continental US for per week earlier than it was shot down final Saturday.
The so-called entity record is a de facto export blacklist that solely permits US exports when the federal government grants licenses. It wasn’t instantly clear how deeply the six corporations are linked to US exporters or how a lot their operations shall be affected by the designations.
The six corporations had been recognized as Beijing Nanjiang Aerospace Expertise Co., China Electronics Expertise Group Company forty eighth Analysis Institute, Dongguan Lingkong Distant Sensing Expertise Co., Eagles Males Aviation Science and Expertise Group Co., Guangzhou Tian-Hai-Xiang Aviation Expertise Co., and Shanxi Eagles Males Aviation Science and Expertise Group Co.