SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
US blocks China-linked crypto firm's purchase of land near nuclear base
Washington, May 13 (AFP) May 13, 2024
The United States has barred a Chinese-owned crypto firm from using land near a strategic US nuclear missile base, President Joe Biden announced Monday, citing national security concerns.

The order requires MineOne Partners Limited to divest from land it purchased in 2022 which sits less than a mile from Wyoming's Francis E. Warren Air Force Base (AFB), home to Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, the White House said in a statement.

Biden's decision follows an investigation by the cross-agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which "identified national security risks" with the purchase of land so close to the nuclear base, according to the White House.

CFIUS also raised concerns about the installation of "specialized" crypto mining equipment on the land which is "potentially capable of facilitating surveillance and espionage activities."

"Today's divestment order underscores President Biden's steadfast commitment to protecting the United States' national security," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

The announcement marks the latest step by the Biden administration to keep Chinese-owned companies away from technology deemed crucial to national security.

The administration has said it wants to protect US manufacturing from cheaper Chinese imports, while stressing its desire to maintain positive trading ties in other areas.

"China is determined to dominate the future of the auto market, including by using unfair practices," Biden said in one such statement earlier this year. "China's policies could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security."


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
SPHEREx completes first full sky infrared map of the cosmos
CoDICE instrument returns first-light particle data for IMAP mission
Webb maps carbon rich atmosphere on distorted pulsar planet

24/7 Energy News Coverage
The Quantum Age will be Powered by Fusion
Physicists map axion production paths inside deuterium tritium fusion reactors
Hybrid excitons speed ultrafast energy transfer at 2D organic interface

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
SDA expands Tracking Layer satellite awards and related missile defense contracts
Space Systems Command activates System Delta 80 for assured space access
Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions to provide SAR reconnaissance data to German military

24/7 News Coverage
Philosopher argues AI consciousness may remain unknowable
Climate driven model explores Neanderthal and modern human overlap in Iberia
Economic losses from natural disasters down by a third in 2025: Swiss Re



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.