The U.S. government on Thursday added 37 Chinese entities to its trade blacklist, citing national security concerns, with 11 of them accused of being connected with a suspected spy balloon that flew over sensitive areas of the United States last year.
Companies, and research institutions and other entities on the list are restricted from doing business with U.S. firms and must gain Commerce Department approval before obtaining goods and technologies from them.
Of the 37 entities, the department said 22 were put on the list for their links to China's efforts to improve quantum technology and for acquiring or seeking to acquire U.S.-origin items to boost the country's quantum capabilities.
It said some of them are also associated with advancements in China's nuclear programs or have been involved in the export of controlled items to Russia amid its war against Ukraine.
"Today's action is another decisive step in addressing challenges posed by the People's Republic of China and its military modernization," Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez said in a statement.
He said the United States must remain vigilant in blocking such entities from accessing U.S. technologies that could be used to undermine its national security.
China said it "firmly opposes" the latest step taken by the United States and warned it will "take necessary measures to safeguard legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies."
"We urge the United States to stop abusing national security and politicizing and weaponizing the concept and stop using the groundless list to suppress Chinese companies," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference in Beijing on Friday.
The giant balloon, suspected of carrying out espionage over the United States, was detected in February last year. The incident became a new flashpoint between the United States and China and led to an abrupt postponement of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's planned visit to Beijing.
U.S. forces later shot down the balloon, which was the size of about three buses, off the coast of South Carolina, angering China.
Beijing insisted it was a civilian craft being used for weather research and was accidentally blown off course by strong winds.
Months after the incident, tensions between the two countries gradually eased as senior officials reopened lines of communications. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping also met in person in November last year near San Francisco and agreed to manage differences.
Nonetheless, the Biden administration continues to view China as the most significant geopolitical threat, with tensions simmering between Washington and Beijing on a number of issues.
Related coverage:
China firmly opposed to Biden's fresh labeling of Xi as "dictator"
Biden, Xi agree to reopen military communication channels
