Cirrus Aircraft is proud of its history in the U.S. heartland: The private plane-maker’s website includes details such as the company’s 1984 launch in a Wisconsin barn, the opening of a Minnesota research and development center, and a North Dakota factory.
But there’s something missing from the company’s All-American timeline: The firm's ownership by a sanctioned Chinese military manufacturer.
For more than a decade, Cirrus has been a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corp. of China, a maker of fighter jets, helicopters and drones for the People’s Liberation Army. AVIC, as the parent company is known, is also one of the world’s largest military contractors and is subject to U.S. sanctions.