Chinese companies hit with US trade restrictions over spy balloon incident

The Biden administration added 37 Chinese entities to a trade blacklist, including some linked to the Chinese spy balloon incident last year, escalating tensions with Beijing. The move aims to restrict China’s access to U.S. technology due to national security concerns over its military modernization efforts and quantum computing capabilities. China denounced the action as “economic coercion” and vowed to safeguard the rights of its firms. The entities were also accused of attempting to obtain American tech for military drones and shipping controlled items to Russia. Photo: Reuters