The United States of America (US) has imposed economic restrictions on six Chinese entities it says are linked to Beijing’s aerospace programs, after the country shot down an alleged Chinese “spy balloon” last week.
The decision, revealed on Friday, means the five companies and one research institute, now blacklisted, will have a harder time importing American technology.
The US Bureau of Industry and Security said the six entities were under attack for “their support of China’s military modernization efforts, specifically the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aerospace programs, including airships and balloons.” .
“The PLA is using high-altitude balloons for intelligence and reconnaissance activities,” the office said in a statement.
Under Secretary of Commerce Don Graves said on Twitter that officials “will not hesitate to continue to use” restrictions and other regulatory and compliance tools “to protect the national security and sovereignty of the United States.”
Last week, US forces shot down what they called a Chinese “spy balloon” over the United States.
China admitted that the balloon belongs to it, but said it had blown off course due to strong winds and was “a civilian flying device used for research purposes, mainly meteorological”, not for spying.
Washington said on Thursday that the Chinese balloon was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals, as part of a military aerial surveillance program targeting more than 40 countries.
Citing images of the U-2 spy planes, the US government, in statements to the Associated Press agency, specified that a fleet of balloons operates under the direction of the PLA and is used for espionage, with equipment designed to collect information on targets in the whole territory. the world, having already passed similar balloons over the five continents.
The incident created a diplomatic rift that led US Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken to postpone a rare visit to China, while Beijing on January 4 rejected a call from Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin shortly after. of the Americans expelling the globe.
China’s defense ministry said on Friday it had rejected the US defense secretary’s call because Washington “has not created the right atmosphere” for dialogue.
The US action “seriously violated international norms and set a bad precedent,” ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said in a statement.
Also on Friday, US forces shot down an “unknown object” crossing US airspace off the Alaskan coast, unlike the Chinese balloon, the White House said.
Source: TSF
