US blacklists 6 Chinese firms for "spy balloon" incident
- In Reports
- 12:23 PM, Feb 11, 2023
- Myind Staff
As part of its response to a Chinese spy balloon that traversed US airspace last week, the Joe Biden administration on Friday (local time) clamped down on sales of some of its technology to several Chinese aviation and technology companies, reported The New York Times (NYT).
Alan Estevez, the undersecretary of commerce for industry and security, said the action directly responded to the Chinese government's use of high-altitude balloons for surveillance, the NYT report stated.
The spy balloon's journey from Alaska to South Carolina captured the attention of regular Americans and officials before the US military shot it down off the country's east coast on Saturday.
The six companies include Beijing Nanjiang Aerospace Technology Co; China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 48th Research Institute; and Dongguan Lingkong Remote Sensing Technology Co.
The restrictions mark the Biden administration's first economic retaliation over the balloon. The administration has registered chiefly its anger through diplomatic channels, including the cancellation of a trip by the secretary of state to Beijing.
The Chinese government has tried to downplay the incident, arguing that the balloon was a civilian device for monitoring the weather.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the US government shot down another unidentified object near Alaska. It was not immediately clear which country or company was responsible for it.
Image courtesy: Reuters
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