Beijing added Lockheed Martin Corporation and Raytheon Missiles and Defence to its sanctions list on Thursday for their involvement in Taiwan arms sales.
According to a statement from the Chinese commerce ministry, the two US weapons firms will be prohibited from engaging in import and export activities related to China.
They will also be banned from making new investments in the country.
Senior management personnel of the two enterprises will be prohibited from entry and fines will be imposed on the companies, according to the statement.
This comes after China warned yesterday that it would retaliate against the US over violations of its sovereignty and security, as tensions between the two countries escalate over the alleged “spy balloon” dispute.
This is not the first time the two US giants have been sanctioned by Beijing over their involvement in sales to Taipei.
Similar measures were imposed last February in response to a Washington-approved US$100 million deal for the maintenance of Taiwan’s missile defence systems by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
China accuses US of damaging Xi-Biden push for stable ties in balloon saga
And in September, China sanctioned the CEO of Raytheon Technologies Corp – of which Raytheon Missiles and Defence is a subsidiary – over the firm’s involvement in another batch of American weapons sales to Taiwan.
China also announced sanctions against Lockheed and Raytheon in 2019 and 2020, though it did not explain what those sanctions involved or how they were enforced, according to Reuters.
Continued US arms sales to Taipei have added to tensions in the Taiwan Strait that had already spiked over then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August.
The US State Department notified the US Congress of 13 arms sales packages to Taiwan last year- the highest number in the past 20 years. These included 10 new sales and three amendments to previously notified ones, according to comments from US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman in February.
The alleged Chinese spy balloon saga this month has worsened those tensions, with China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday warning of retaliatory action against US entities.
This came after the US military on February 4 shot down what it claimed was a Chinese surveillance balloon, and added six Chinese entities to an export blacklist over alleged links to Beijing’s suspected “spy balloon” programme.
“China is strongly opposed to this and will take countermeasures against relevant US entities that have undermined our sovereignty and security to firmly safeguard our sovereignty and legitimate rights and interests,” ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin had said on Wednesday.
Hours afterwards, the US Senate unanimously passed two resolutions condemning China for sending a surveillance balloon over the United States.
Wang on Thursday slammed the resolutions as “purely political manipulation and malicious hype” that “ignore basic facts”, as he urged the US to stop taking actions that cause further escalation of the situation.
Chinese balloon aimed for Guam but was blown off course: US official
China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress, also strongly condemned the US House of Representatives for passing a resolution on the Chinese balloon incident.
The move deliberately exaggerated the “China threat”, an NPC Foreign Affairs Committee statement said on Thursday.
China also said US balloons had flown over Chinese airspace without its permission more than 10 times since May, with some going above the regions of Xinjiang and Tibet.
