U.S. Adds 5 More Chinese Companies to Sanction Blacklist

The U.S. Department of Treasury announced on March 9 that it had added five Chinese companies and one individual to the sanctions blacklist for having provided thousands of aerospace components (including parts that can be used in drones) to the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (also known as HESA). The US government accused these CCP companies of being indirectly linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Iran’s attack on oil tankers in the Gulf region, because Russia and Iran have both deployed the Shahed-136 kamikaze drone manufactured by HESA, and because the Iranian company is indirectly controlled by the Iranian Ministry of Defense. The five blacklisted Chinese companies are Hangzhou Fuyang Koto Machinery Co., Ltd, and its Hong Kong subsidiary Raven International Trade Limited; Guilin Alpha Rubber & Plastics Technology Co., Ltd; Shenzhen Caspro Technology Co., Ltd; S&C Trade PTY Co., Ltd and its employee Yun Xia Yuan. Among these companies, Hangzhou Fuyang Koto Machinery is accused of using its Hong Kong subsidiary Raven International to facilitate multi-million-dollar component transactions with Iran’s HESA.

In addition, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has also sanctioned 39 corporate entities, including those in Communist China and Hong Kong, because they form a “shadow banking” network that assists Iranian entities to bypass international sanctions, to enter the international financial market, and to sell petrochemical products.