US blacklists 27 Chinese, Pakistan, Japanese, Singaporean entities

The US has blacklisted 27 Chinese, Pakistan, Japanese and Singaporean entities and individuals because of national security concerns.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a final rule adding twenty-seven foreign entities and individuals to the Entity List for engaging in activities that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said in a statement.

At least eight Chinese companies were secretly helping in the development of the Chinese army’s quantum computing program.

Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo said that “global trade and commerce should support peace, prosperity, and good-paying jobs.” The Unites States’ actions will help “prevent the diversion of US technologies to the PRCs and Russia’s military advancement.”

They were added to the “Entity List” to prevent them from obtaining and exploiting US emerging technologies for military use.

Quantum computers can help the Chinese military to use counter-stealth and counter-submarine applications. The move is set to stall Chinese efforts towards the desperate modernization of its military setup.

Three affiliates of Corad Technology Limited, a Chinese entity added to the Entity List in 2019, have been added due to their involvement in sales of technology from the United States and other Western nations to Iran’s military and space programs, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) front companies, and PRC government and defense industry subordinate entities.

The statement added.

Apart from these companies, at least 16 other individuals and entities were blacklisted. They were working in China and Pakistan to work on the “non-proliferation of Pakistan’s unsafeguarded nuclear activities or ballistic missile program.”

Moscow’s Institute of Physics and Technology was also blacklisted for the production of military products for a military end-user.

The listings are set to help end the theft and exploitation of US tech. The companies blacklisted secretly obtained or attempted to obtain US technology for their country’s military use.

Various countries have used “independent” private firms to secretly purchase and transfer embargoed technology to their country.

The companies purchase blocked technology by claiming it’s for commercial use, but then transfer it to their home country to support military/nuclear programs.

A third country is often used as a fake or temporary setting to help transfer the tech to its true destination, without the US batting an eye unless intel is received.

The suppliers of the blacklisted companies and individuals will now need to apply for a license before they could sell US technology to their blacklisted buyers.

The countries affected by this will now build and attempt to use newer companies to try to steal and exploit US technology.