On Monday, the Biden Administration added 43 different entities to an export control list by the U.S. Commerce Department, in a bid to crack down on the training of Chinese military pilots, the supplying of China with military technology, and other efforts to aid Chinese military objectives.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, one of the entities added to the list is Frontier Services Group Ltd., a security and aviation company formerly run by Erik Prince of Blackwater, for the purpose of training Chinese military pilots. Similarly, the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA), a flight school that has recruited British ex-military pilots for the same purposes of training the Chinese, was also added to the list. Also included is the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).
Enforcement efforts will focus on Frontier Services locations in China, Kenya, Laos, and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), as well as TFASA locations in South Africa, China, the U.A.E., and the U.K., and AVIC locations in South Africa and China.
In addition to pilot training, companies have been added to the list for their involvement in acquiring U.S.-made items for the purpose of aiding in the modernization of China’s military, including hypersonic technology.
“It is imperative that we prevent China from acquiring U.S. technologies and know-how to enable their military modernization programs,” said Matthew Axelrod, a Commerce spokesman, in an official statement.
In total, 31 Chinese companies were added to the list, as were nine Chinese and Pakistani companies that contributed to the latter’s ballistic missiles program and other weapons programs, as well as two companies that have enabled Chinese abuses of minority groups such as the Ugyhur Muslims.