China on Thursday imposed sanctions on at least 13 US defence firms and six executives over arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing considers its “breakaway province.”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing:
“Taiwan independence and peace in the Taiwan Straits are fundamentally incompatible. The US insistence on using force to support Taiwan independence cannot alter China’s firm resolve to oppose Taiwan independence and achieve national reunification.”
On November 30, the United States announced arms sales to Taiwan totalling about $385 million. China’s Foreign Ministry issued a “Decision on Countermeasures against US military-industrial enterprises and senior management personnel.”
The assets of individuals and legal entities caught under the sanctions are frozen and it is forbidden to do business with them. Heads of the companies are banned from entering China, the agency said.
The list includes, in particular, Triton Brown Engineering, BRINC Drone, Rapid Flight, Red Six Solutions, Shield Artificial Intelligence, Cygnus, Firestorm Laboratories, Quitos Drone Systems, Havoc Artificial Intelligence, Nilex Technologies, Cyberlex, Domo Tactical Communications, Group W.
Chinese diplomats have previously said that the US arms sale to Taiwan sent a serious wrong signal to separatist forces seeking “Taiwan independence.” China strongly opposes such a sale and calls on the US to immediately stop arming Taiwan.
