The United States government has announced a new round of sanctions targeting a Pakistani company and several Chinese entities, along with one individual, for allegedly supplying equipment and technology to aid Pakistan’s ballistic missile development. This marks the sixth round of such sanctions imposed by the US on Chinese and Pakistani companies since November 2021.
Under these sanctions, any US-based assets of the named entities can be frozen, and US citizens or anyone within or transiting the US are prohibited from conducting business with them. The sanctions specifically name China-based firms Hubei Huachangda Intelligent Equipment Co, Universal Enterprise, and Xi’an Longde Technology Development Co, as well as Pakistan-based Innovative Equipment.
A Chinese national is also included for “knowingly transferring equipment under missile technology restrictions,” according to US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
The US claims that the Beijing Research Institute of Automation for Machine Building Industry (RIAMB) has collaborated with Pakistan’s National Development Complex (NDC), which Washington believes is involved in developing long-range ballistic missiles for Pakistan. “The United States will continue to act against proliferation and associated procurement activities of concern, wherever they occur,” Miller stated, emphasizing the US’s commitment to preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, particularly long-range weapons.
Pakistan also condemned the sanctions, with Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch denouncing them as “biased and politically motivated.” She argued that past sanctions were often based on “mere suspicion” and accused some countries of applying double standards by waiving licensing requirements for advanced military technologies to favored states. She warned that such practices undermine global non-proliferation regimes, increase military asymmetries, and threaten international peace and security.
In response, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, expressed strong opposition to the sanctions, criticizing them as “unilateral” and lacking a basis in international law or UN Security Council authorization.
