CFIUS, FBI Probing Chinese Investment in US Aircraft Company, Report Says
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. is investigating a Chinese investment in California-based Icon Aircraft after receiving allegations that the aircraft manufacturer may be transferring sensitive technology to China, The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 18. CFIUS began…
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the review in late November after receiving a memo from a group of Icon’s American shareholders, the report said. In the memo, the shareholders said a Chinese company, Shanghai Pudong Science and Technology Investment Co. (PDSTI), has been “installing board members and executives, pressuring others and laying plans to transfer Icon’s technology to China.” In addition to CFIUS, the FBI opened a separate criminal probe and is investigating potentially illegal technology transfers from Icon to China, the report said. Icon said its aircraft don’t have military applications and the company “doesn’t see PDSTI’s investment as a national-security concern,” according to the report. The company also told the WSJ that it expects the CFIUS review to be completed at the end of February. A spokesperson for the Treasury Department, which chairs CFIUS, declined to comment. The FBI and Icon didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.