In conjunction with Beijing's alleged surveillance balloon program, the United States has put six Chinese businesses under its export ban.The People's Liberation Arm

In conjunction with Beijing's alleged surveillance balloon program, the United States has put six Chinese businesses under its export ban.

The People's Liberation Army's (PLA) aerospace programs, including airships and balloons, are being targeted by limitations, according to the US Bureau of Industry and Security, which announced restrictions against five enterprises and one research facility on Friday.

High Altitude Balloons (HAB) are being used by the PLA for espionage and reconnaissance purposes, it continued.

The new limitations come in response to the White House's declaration that it will examine more measures to "expose and address" China's more extensive spying operations that risk US national security and allies.

Last week's spectacle of the Chinese balloon floating over the US caused political fury in Washington and further strained ties between the two nations.

Additionally, it led Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a trip to Beijing that both nations hoped would help to improve tense relations.

Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement, said that today's action "demonstrates our joint efforts to identify and prevent the PRC's deployment of surveillance balloons, which have violated the airspace of the United States and more than forty countries."

The listing in the Federal Register, the United States' official daily newspaper, reads, "The PLA is employing High Altitude Balloons for intelligence and reconnaissance purposes."

The list is meant to penalize Chinese businesses that are seen as a security risk and prevent Beijing from expanding militarily.

These businesses have collaborated in various capacities with the Chinese government. Beijing Nanjiang, one of the listed businesses, is a division of the Deluxe Family Development, which is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and it collaborated with Beihang University to create China's first military-civilian near-space airship.

Other businesses, like Shanxi Eagles Men Aircraft Science and Technology Group, Guangzhou Tian-Hai-Xiang Aviation Technology, and Dongguan Lingkong Remote Sensing Technology, have strong ties to the Chinese military and produce aviation goods for both military and commercial usage.

A private equity group that encourages military-civilian integration invested in another company, Eagles Men Aviation. 

According to China's foreign ministry, it was a weather balloon that veered off course, and the US overreacted.

The Biden administration's action makes it difficult for the targeted companies to import US technology.

China has disputed the allegations made by Washington that the company that made the Chinese balloon had a "direct link" with the PLA. Before this, Zhuzhou Rubber Research & Design Institute, the largest balloon maker in China, denied any connections to the balloon.

“It is an unmanned airship that is reported, which is not related to our company,” a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

China has admitted to owning the balloon but said it was intended for civilian purposes and had entered US airspace by accident.

US blacklists Chinese companies over suspected surveillance balloon

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