The Foreign Ministry of China declared sanctions on Friday on 10 individuals and 20 U.S. defense companies that include Boeing’s St. Louis branch, over arms sales to Taiwan.
A spokesperson of the U.S. State Department expressed a strong objection to the Chinese action that freezes any assets the companies and individuals may have in China and prohibits domestic organizations and individuals from conducting business with them.
It has reported that the list of Chinese, which included the founder of defense company Anduril Industries and nine of his top executives, was also prohibited from entering China.
The other companies that are targeted would be Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and L3Harris Maritime Services, and also the St. Louis branch of Boeing, which has specialized in defense jobs.
The move by the Chinese seems more of a symbolic gesture since China does not have any legislation with the U.S. defense companies, but China has been a big buyer of Boeing commercial planes.
Such a move comes after Washington announced last week that it would sell Taiwan $11.1 billion worth of weapons, the biggest U.S. weapons sale to Taiwan ever, which infuriated Beijing.
In a statement on Friday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that “The Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-U.S. relations.”
“Any provocative actions that cross the line on the Taiwan issue will be met with a strong response from China,” the statement said, urging the U.S. to cease “dangerous” efforts to arm the island.
Therefore, China views democratically-governed Taiwan as an extension of its territory, and this is denied by Taipei. The U.S. has a legal obligation to supply Taiwan with the tools to protect itself, but the sale of weapons is a recurring point of contention with China.
The State Department spokesperson added this policy had “remained consistent across nine different U.S. administrations and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
A spokesperson stated, “We strongly object to Beijing’s efforts to retaliate against U.S. companies for their support of U.S. arms sales that support Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” citing that urging Beijing to cease military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taipei.
Boeing has been negotiating to sell Chinese airlines up to 500 civil jets, as reported in September, which would be a big milestone for the company in the second-largest aviation market in the world, where orders have stagnated due to U.S.-China trade conflicts.
