China on Thursday announced sanctions against two US defense companies over what it called their support for arms sales to Taiwan.
The announcement freezes the assets of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems held within China. It also bars the companies’ management from entering the country.
Filings showed that General Dynamics operates a half-dozen Gulfstream and jet aviation service operations in China, which remains heavily reliant on foreign aerospace technology even as it attempts to build its own presence in the field. The company also helps make the Abrams tanks Taiwan is purchasing to replace outdated armor.
Photo: Reuters
General Atomics produces the Predator and Reaper drones used by the US military.
Chinese authorities did not go into details about the company’s alleged involvement in supplying arms to Taiwan.
Beijing has long threatened such sanctions, but has rarely issued them as its economy reels from the COVID-19 pandemic, high unemployment and a sharp decline in foreign investment.
“The continued US arms sales to China’s Taiwan region seriously violate the ‘one China’ principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques interfere in China’s internal affairs, and undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Sanctions were leveled under Beijing’s recently enacted Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, which was established in retaliation against US financial and travel restrictions on Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in China and Hong Kong.
General Dynamics’ fully owned entities are registered in Hong Kong.
The two companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
China banned US firms Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Missiles & Defense from the Chinese market in retaliation, as one of their planes and a missile was used to shoot down a suspected spy balloon that flew over the US last year.
Similar balloons have frequently been discovered floating over Taiwan and into the Pacific Ocean.
Despite their lack of formal diplomatic ties, the US remains Taiwan’s most important source of diplomatic support and supplier of military hardware, from fighter jets to air defense systems.
Taiwan has also been investing heavily in its own defense industry, producing sophisticated missiles and submarines.
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