- The sanctioned executives, including the founder of Anduril, were banned from entering China.
- Targets include Northrop Grumman, L3Harris, Boeing’s defense arm.
- China calls Taiwan “core interest”; The United States reaffirms its support for its defense.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday announced sanctions against 10 people and 20 US defense companies, including Boeing’s St Louis branch, over arms sales to Taiwan.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said the United States strongly opposed the Chinese move, which freezes any assets companies and individuals have in China and prohibits domestic organizations and individuals from doing business with them.
People on the Chinese list, including the founder of defense company Anduril Industries and nine senior executives of the sanctioned companies, are also banned from entering China, he added.
Other targeted companies include Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and L3Harris Maritime Services, and Boeing’s St Louis branch, which focuses on defense work.
The Chinese action appears largely symbolic, given China’s lack of deals with American defense companies, while it has been a major buyer of Boeing civilian aircraft.
The move follows Washington’s announcement last week of $11.1 billion worth of arms sales to Taiwan, the largest arms package ever made by the United States for the island, drawing the ire of Beijing.
“The Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
“Any provocative action that crosses the line on the Taiwan issue will receive a strong response from China,” the statement said, urging the United States to cease “dangerous” efforts to arm the island.
China considers democratically governed Taiwan to be part of its own territory, a claim Taipei rejects.
The United States is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, although such arms sales are a persistent source of friction with China.
The State Department spokesperson said this policy “has remained consistent across nine different US administrations and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
“We strongly oppose Beijing’s efforts to retaliate against American companies for their support of American arms sales that support Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” the spokesperson said, while urging Beijing to cease military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taipei.
Boeing has been in talks to sell Chinese carriers up to 500 civil aircraft, according to a September report, which would represent a major breakthrough for the company in the world’s second-largest aviation market, where orders have stalled amid trade tensions between the United States and China.
