- New US sanctions target Chinese and Pakistani entities
- Measures include asset blocks and business bans
- Pakistan’s missile program faces ongoing scrutiny
Islamabad, Pakistan – The US government has issued a new wave of penalties against a Pakistani company, numerous Chinese “entities, and one individual” for allegedly supplying equipment and technology for ballistic missile development in Pakistan.
Thursday’s declaration marks the sixth round of sanctions imposed by the United States on Chinese and Pakistani entities since November 2021. Under these sanctions, those mentioned mentioned’s US-based assets can be blocked. US residents or anybody in (or transiting) the US are prohibited from doing business with any named groups or individuals.
According to US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, the sanctions target China-based companies Hubei Huachangda Intelligent Equipment Co, Universal Enterprise, and Xi’an Longde Technology Development Co, as well as Pakistan-based Innovative Equipment and a Chinese national, for “knowingly transferring equipment under missile technology restrictions.”
According to the US, the Beijing Research Institute of Automation for Machine Building Industry (RIAMB) has worked with Pakistan’s National Development Complex (NDC), which Washington claims is constructing long-range ballistic missiles for Pakistan.
“The United States will continue to act against proliferation and associated procurement activities of concern, wherever they occur,” a spokeswoman assured me. The United States claims it utilizes sanctions to halt the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), notably long-range weapons.
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for China’s embassy in Washington, stated, “China strongly opposes unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that have no basis in international law or UN Security Council authorization.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry has yet to react to the latest sanctions, and Al Jazeera’s questions went unanswered.
Missile development continues.
The most recent wave of sanctions before this was issued in April 2024, when Washington banned four Belarussian and Chinese entities from selling missile-related components to Pakistan’s long-range missile programs.
In reaction to the sanctions, Pakistan’s foreign ministry claimed they were placed “without any evidence whatsoever” of foreign companies supplying the country’s ballistic missile project.
“We reject the political use of export controls,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the foreign office spokesperson, said in an April statement, adding that some countries appear to be immune from “non-proliferation” restrictions. This alludes to increased cooperation between the United States and India’s defense sectors.
Despite these safeguards, experts believe Pakistan’s missile development is accelerating.
Tughral Yamin, a former military official and senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies Islamabad (IPSI), claimed that the sanctions were more of a US tactic to pressure China.
However, he questioned their efficiency. Pakistan’s missile program has advanced to the stage where repeated sanctions will not impede our progress. “We’re far beyond that,” he told Al Jazeera.
Pakistan has had a sophisticated missile program for decades and has even built nuclear warheads.
It is not a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), an informal political agreement of 35 countries to limit the spread of missiles and missile technology globally.
According to its declared objectives, the MTCR intends to limit the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) “by controlling exports of goods and technologies that could contribute to delivery systems (other than human-crewed aircraft) for such weapons.”
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Yamin stated that Pakistan adheres to its principles despite not being a member. He noted that Pakistan has not aimed to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of traveling more than 5,000 kilometers, instead focusing its missile development on deterrence against India, which joined the MTCR in 2015.
The longest-range missile in Pakistan’s arsenal is the medium-range Shaheen-III, which can carry both conventional and nuclear bombs and travel up to 2,750 kilometers (1,708 miles).
[Pakistan’s] missiles, whether conventional or nuclear-tipped, serve as a deterrent to India, and this policy has been transparent and consistent, and the deterrence remains effective, he added.
‘Aggressive stance’
The United States has been concerned about Pakistan’s missile program and potential collaboration with China since the early 1990s, according to Muhammad Faisal, a foreign policy specialist and researcher based in Sydney.
However, beginning with President Obama’s second term, US authorities urged Pakistan to exercise caution in expanding the ranges of its ballistic missiles beyond India’s geographical borders, according to Faisal.
With six rounds of sanctions imposed over the last four years, the Biden administration has taken a particularly active approach to targeting businesses it believes are helping Pakistan’s missile program, according to Faisal.
The nuclear issue remains an irritant in the US-Pakistan relationship, and, despite more significant improvements in Islamabad-Washington relations, such periodic sanctioning of companies sends a signal that the US would continue to use both carrots and sticks in its engagement with Pakistan, he noted.
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