US restricts exports to Sandvine, Chengdu Beizhan Electronics

Chengdu Beizhan Electronics could not immediately be reached. In the same posting on Monday, the U.S. removed Jazirah Aviation Club in the United Arab Emirates from the export control list.

The U.S. on Monday placed Canada-based Sandvine Inc and China's Chengdu Beizhan Electronics on the Commerce Department's "Entity List," effectively banning U.S. goods and technology to the companies, according to a U.S. government posting. Sandvine, a controversial networking equipment company, was added to the list for supplying technology to the Egyptian government, "where it is used in mass web-monitoring and censorship to block news as well as target political actors and human rights activists," the Federal Register listing said.

The company, which has been accused of helping facilitate surveillance on Egypt's opposition, supplies what is known as "deep packet inspection technology." In addition to Waterloo, Ontario, in Canada, Sandvine's locations in India, Japan, Malaysia, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates are included in the export control list.

China's Chengdu Beizhan Electronics was listed for acquiring U.S.-origin items on behalf of the University of Electronic Science and Technology, which is already on the Entity List, the notice said. Sandvine did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for the Egyptian embassy in Washington, and the government in Egypt also did not respond. Chengdu Beizhan Electronics could not immediately be reached.

In the same posting on Monday, the U.S. removed Jazirah Aviation Club in the United Arab Emirates from the export control list. Jazirah, a light sport aviation club, was placed on the list in 2018 for its involvement in procuring items for an entity on the Entity List, the U.S. said at the time. The posting said it was removed after a review.