washington [US]: In response to a Chinese spy balloon that entered US airspace last week, the Joe Biden administration on Friday (local time) barred the sale of some of its technology to several Chinese aviation and technology companies, The New York Times reported. Did. (NYT). The Commerce Department added five Chinese companies and a research institute to its so-called Entity List, which would prevent the companies from selling American parts and technologies without a special license. Alan Estevez, the undersecretary of commerce for industry and security, said the action directly responds to the Chinese government’s use of high-altitude balloons for surveillance, the NYT reports. “Today’s action makes clear that entities that harm US national security and sovereignty will be barred from accessing American technologies,” he said. A spy balloon’s flyover from Alaska to South Carolina caught the attention of regular Americans and officials before the US military shot it down off the country’s east coast on Saturday.
“(People’s Republic of China) use of high-altitude balloons violates our sovereignty and threatens US national security,” Estevez said in a statement on Friday. Beijing Nanjiang Aerospace Technology Co. in six companies; China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 48th Research Institute; and Dongguan Lingkong Remote Sensing Technology Co.
The other three are Eagles Main Aviation Science and Technology Group Company; Guangzhou Tian-Hai-Xiang Aviation Technology Co.; With Shanxi Eagles Main Aviation Science and Technology Group Company. The ban marks the first economic retaliation from the Biden administration on balloons.
The administration has registered its anger primarily through diplomatic channels, including canceling a visit by the foreign minister to Beijing. Republicans criticized the administration for not reacting more forcefully, including shooting down the balloon before it went out to sea.
The White House said it was following advice from the Pentagon, which feared the debris could harm people on the ground. The Chinese government has tried to downplay the incident, arguing that the balloon was a civilian tool for weather monitoring.
The Commerce Department did not specify whether the companies and the institute had played a direct role in the development or operation of the balloon that flew across the United States. But the Biden administration said earlier this week that it would consider taking action against any entity that aided the balloon flight, the NYT reported.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the US government shot down another unidentified object near Alaska. It was not immediately clear which country or company was responsible.