Chinese companies hit with US trade restrictions over spy balloon incident
China Electronics Technology Group could not immediately be reached for comment. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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China says US balloons flew over Xinjiang, Tibet as diplomatic row deepens
The moves announced on Thursday show the Biden administration is continuing to punish Beijing over the spy balloon, which drifted over the United States in February 2023, fueling political outrage in Washington and prompting State Department Secretary Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to China.
That month, the US Commerce Department added five companies and one research institute to the entity list for supporting “China’s military modernisation efforts, specifically the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) aerospace programmes including airships and balloons”.
China’s foreign ministry had said it was a weather balloon that had blown off course and accused the United States of overreacting.
The trade restriction list, known as the entity list, has been used aggressively by the United States to stem the flow of technology to China amid concerns Beijing could use it to bolster its military capabilities.
Being added to the list makes it harder for US suppliers to ship to the targeted entities.
The Biden administration on Thursday also added a handful of Chinese entities to the list for trying to obtain American items for making drones to be used by the Chinese military and others for shipping controlled items to Russia.