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"We will continue to take necessary measures to safeguard national sovereignty and security interests," Zhao said.
Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokesman Zhao Lijian Monday announced that his country imposed sanctions on United States companies Lockheed Martin, Boeing Defense, and Raytheon for their pre-agreement to sell arms to Taiwan.
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Last week, Zhao informed that China would provide a legitimate response after the U.S. State Department announced its intention to sell three lots of weapons to Taiwan that included SLAM-ER missiles and several High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which is a multiple lightweight missile delivery system.
He called on the United States to stop selling arms to Taiwan and to cut military ties with the government in Taipei.
The exact details of the sanctions have not been announced yet, but the spokesman pointed out they will apply to U.S. individuals and entities that played a role in the arms sales.
US Congress has been notified of 3 arms sales to #Taiwan:
— Intelfeedia (@intelfeedia) October 22, 2020
-64 tactical missiles along with 11 sets of mobile rocket systems.
-6 sets of MS-110 recon. pods for RF-16 aircraft.
-135 units of precision guided missiles that can be launched from F-16s. #China #ColdWar @TheWarMonitor pic.twitter.com/2ZENamFsK8
These sanctions are the latest escalation of tensions between the U.S. and China over Taiwan. Even though the island is not controlled by China's Communist Party, Beijing insists it is an integral part of its territory.
In the past year, President Donald Trump’s administration has moved to strengthen ties with Taipei, including increasing arms sales and facilitating high-level meetings between U.S. and Taiwan officials.
This is the second time that China imposes sanctions on the U.S. arms company Lockheed Martin. The first time was in July when it reached a pre-agreement with Taiwan for US$620 million to repair PAC-3 missiles.
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