The US hits Chinese and Russian firms over Moscow military aid. On Monday, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden placed fresh trade restrictions on 11 Chinese and five Russian businesses, accusing them of selling components to construct drones for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. The sanctions were put in place by the United States.
A total of 28 companies, some based in Finland and Germany, were put on a trade blocklist by the Department of Commerce, responsible for overseeing export policy. As a result, it will be more difficult for American suppliers to supply these companies with technology.
Nine firms, including Asia Pacific Links Ltd. of China and SMT-iLogic of Russia, are accused of plotting to supply the previously banned Special Technology Center with drone parts for the General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate of Russia.
An investigation that was conducted by Reuters and iStories, a Russian media outlet, in conjunction with the Royal United Services Institute, which is a defense think tank in London, discovered a logistical trail that spans the globe and culminates at the production line for the Orlan drone, which is located at the Special Technology Centre in St. Petersburg, Russia, last year.
According to the study’s findings, the export company Asia Pacific Links Ltd., located in Hong Kong, has been one of the most prominent suppliers to Russia’s drone program. An earlier wave of penalties imposed by the United States in May targeted the company and another import business known as SMT iLogic.
The corporations did not react immediately to requests for comments made to them.
“We will not hesitate to take swift and meaningful action against those who continue seeking to supply and support Putin’s illegal and immoral war in Ukraine,” Alan Estevez, the chief of export controls for the Commerce Department, said in a statement. “We will not hesitate to take swift and meaningful action against those who continue seeking to supply and support Putin’s illegal and immoral war in Ukraine.”
According to the Commerce Department, six Chinese firms have been added to the list of those suspected of purchasing aerospace components for the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Company. These parts are reportedly used to produce drones that Iran uses to target oil tankers in the Middle East and Russia in Ukraine.
The Special Technology Center in St. Petersburg, Russia, which once manufactured a variety of surveillance gadgets for the Russian government and now focuses on drones for the military, was the first target of U.S. sanctions after former President Barack Obama said that it had worked with Russian military intelligence to try to influence the 2016 presidential election in the United States. The Special Technology Center once made a variety of surveillance gadgets for the Russian government and now focuses on drones for the military.
The United States has extensively used a trade blocklist known as the entity list to go after China’s technology industry and thwart Russia’s involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
Comment Template