Washington: On Friday, the US unveiled new sanctions against China that target six businesses believed to be involved in Beijing's alleged spying operation. After a Chinese "spy balloon" was discovered and shot down in US airspace, the action was taken.
The US Commerce Department said in a statement that the organizations were put on the blacklist for aiding China's "military modernization efforts, particularly those related to aerospace programs." Airships, balloons, and other items used for intelligence and reconnaissance by Beijing were among these.
The sanctioned companies will find it more difficult to acquire US technologies as a result of the new restrictions. Beijing Nanjing Aerospace Technology and the 48th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation are among the targets.
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According to Alan Estevez, Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, China's "use of high-altitude balloons violates our sovereignty and threatens US national security." He claimed that the sanctions would demonstrate that any organizations attempting to compromise the security of the United States "will be cut off from accessing US technologies."
When the Pentagon reported last week that it was tracking a rumored Chinese surveillance airship over the US state of Montana, the "spy balloon" saga officially began. A F-22 fighter jet downed it over the water off the coast of South Carolina two days later. Beijing described the balloon as a "civilian airship" that strayed into US territory due to force majeure circumstances, in contrast to the Pentagon's accusation that China was using the balloon to "surveil strategic sites" in the US.
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The foreign ministry of China reiterated that Beijing has "never violated the territory and airspace of any sovereign country" and claimed that some US politicians and media outlets "hyped" the incident as a reason to "attack and smear China." It called the allegations that China was using an airship surveillance system to target the US "information warfare."
As a result of how he handled the situation, US President Joe Biden came under fire from both sides of the political spectrum. Many lawmakers felt that the balloon should have been brought down sooner. Though he added that he didn't see the incident as a significant security breach, Biden stated that he did not want to destroy the aircraft over land for safety reasons.
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The Pentagon added on Friday that the president had instructed the shooting down of an unidentified high-altitude object near Alaska "out of an abundance of caution." Although the department claimed to be unsure of the object's owner, it did say that it "posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight."