China Imposes Sanctions On 13 US Defense Companies

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian. (Twitter/@MFA_China)

JAKARTA - China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday announced Beijing imposed sanctions on 13 US defense companies and six executives over the sale of weapons and other military equipment to Taiwan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Beijing urged the United States to stop arming Taiwan, refrain from colluding with or supporting separatist forces "Taiwan independence" in their efforts to seek independence through military upgrades, quoted from Xinhua December 5.

Lin noted that the Taiwan issue was at the center of China's core interest. He said the move by Uncle Sam's country announced plans to sell weapons to Taiwan, which had seriously violated the principles of One China and three communiques with China-US, interfered with China's internal affairs, and undermined China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"Based on the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Act, China has decided to take retaliatory action against military companies and senior US executives," said Lin.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that sanctions will take effect from December 5, with individual assets and blacklisted entities frozen, doing business with them will be banned, executives will be barred from entering China, quoted from TASS.

Lin stressed that "Taiwan independence" and peace in the Taiwan Strait cannot be reconciled such as fire and water.

The US's decision to advance the independence agenda by arming Taiwan will not destabilize China's strong determination to oppose Taiwan's "independence" and achieve national reunification, it will only push Taiwan into the danger of a military conflict, he said.

"China urges the United States to strictly adhere to the principles of one China and three communicants with China-US, especially the 1982 August 17 communique," Lin said, adding the United States must act on its commitment of its leaders not to support Taiwan's "independence," and must immediately stop Taiwan's weapons.

The companies that were sanctioned were Teledyne Brown Engineering, BRINC Drones, Rapid Flight, Red Six Solutions, Shield AI, SYNEXXUS, Firestorm Labs, Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems, HavocaI, Nerons Technologies, Cyberlux Corporation, Domo Tactical Communications, and Group W.

Meanwhile, the sanctioned executives are senior Raytheon subsidiary Barbara Borgonovi and Gerard Hueber; BAE Systems Land and Armament CEO Charles Woodburn; senior executive at United Technologies unit Richard Crawford; Data Link President Beth Edler, and BRINC Drones CEO Blake Resnick.