Without saying what action Beijing would take, the Chinese
foreign ministry said on Friday that the sanctions applied to Northrop
Grumman and a unit of Lockheed Martin.
Ministry
spokeswoman Mao Ning said the St Louis, Missouri, branch of Lockheed Martin was
the main contractor in a US arms sale to Taipei on August 24 while Northrop
Grumman, based in Falls Church, Virginia, had been involved in supplying weapons
to Taiwan multiple times.
Mao said Washington was going further down the wrong and dangerous
path of arming Taiwan despite Beijing’s firm opposition.
“We urge the US side … to stop selling weapons to Taiwan, to
stop the US-Taiwan military collusion and to stop arming Taiwan, otherwise it
will be met with resolute and forceful countermeasures of China,” she said.
The
State Department announced three weeks ago that the US had approved a half
billion dollar sale of advanced sensor systems built by Lockheed Martin for
F-16 fighter jets to Taipei.
Lockheed Martin – along with Raytheon Missiles and Defence –
was already on a Chinese Commerce Ministry blacklist over Taiwan arms sales.
Beijing
later said Chinese companies were banned from doing business with the US firms
and senior executives of Lockheed or RMD were not allowed to travel to or work
in China.
The self-governed island has become one of the greatest
sources of tension between the two powers in recent years.
Beijing
regards Taiwan as a breakaway province to be brought under mainland control by
force if necessary and opposes any official interactions between countries it
has established diplomatic relations with and the island.
Most
countries, including the US, do not recognize the island as an independent
state, although Washington is opposed to any attempt to take it forcibly.
In addition to the arms sale, the Biden administration
notified the US Congress last month that it had approved the first-ever US
military aid – amounting to US$80 million – to Taiwan under a program
generally reserved for assistance to sovereign, independent states.
The US
government is also reportedly planning to redirect millions of dollars of
military financing for Egypt to Taiwan.
On Friday, Mao said US arms sales to Taiwan seriously violate
the one-China principle and severely harm China’s sovereignty and security
interests”.
“The Chinese government’s determination to defend its
national sovereignty and territorial integrity is unwavering,” she said.
Last
weekend US President Joe Biden said the economic slowdown in mainland China
could make it less likely to consider an invasion of Taiwan.
“I don’t think it’s going to cause China to invade Taiwan.
And matter of fact, the opposite – it probably doesn’t have the – the same
capacity that it had before,” he said on Sunday during a visit to Vietnam.
Beijing
responded saying that resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese
ourselves.
