The US on Monday added 43 entities to an export control list, including 31 Chinese entities, for carrying out activities that threaten US national security, such as helping train Chinese military pilots and modernise the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Military Modernisation and Human Rights Abuses
Some companies were added to the export control list for acquiring US-origin items to support modernising the Chinese military, including hypersonic weapons development and hypersonic flight modelling.
“It is imperative that we prevent China from acquiring US technologies and know-how to enable their military modernisation programmes,” Matthew Axelrod, a Commerce official, said in the Commerce Department’s statement.
The US Commerce Department’s Entity List also includes the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA), a flight school allegedly involved in recruiting ex-military pilots from the UK to train Chinese military pilots.
-Poor flying training standards pushed #China’s navy & air force to hire #USA #Britain #Germany #Australia military pilots
— Insightful Geopolitics (@InsightGL) June 12, 2023
-Now US has added 43 entities to an export control list
-Training #Chinese military pilots directly or through flying schools becomes punishable act pic.twitter.com/IwPpLSCIvf
In addition, it includes Frontier Services Group Ltd, a security and aviation company previously run by Erik Prince, and its sites in China, Kenya, Laos and the UAE; TFASA units in South Africa, China, the UAE, and the UK; and aerospace and defence conglomerate Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) entities in China and South Africa.
These entities are restricted from receiving US exports.
Moreover, nine Chinese and Pakistani companies were added for contributing to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program and other weapons contributions, while two were added for being complicit in helping Beijing carry out human rights abuses and repression of the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.
Chinese Response
On the same day, China expressed its “firm” opposition to the list, especially for the ban on entities accused of alleged human rights abuses.
“The action taken by the United States lacks factual basis and transparency,” China’s Commerce Ministry said. It added that China will take “necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.”