US Taiwan arms sales Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

As countermeasures on US arms sales to China’s Taiwan region and the country’s sanctions on Chinese entities, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Sunday that China has decided to impose sanctions on five US defense companies, including freezing movable and immovable assets and other types of property held within China, as well as prohibiting organizations and individuals within China from engaging in transactions, cooperation, and other activities with these companies.

Those companies include BAE Systems Land and Armament, Alliant Techsystems Operation, AeroVironment, ViaSat and Data Link Solutions. 

Citing a Pentagon release last month, Reuters reported that the US State Department has approved a $300 million sale of equipment to help maintain the island of Taiwan’s tactical information systems.
 
The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency confirmed that the sale was for follow-on life cycle support to maintain the island of Taiwan’s Command, Control, Communications and Computers, or C4, capabilities, while the defense authority on the island claimed that the sale would help maintain the effectiveness of its joint combat command and control systems so that it can improve battlefield awareness, Reuters reported.

The US arms sales to China’s Taiwan region is a blatant violation of the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, particularly the August 17 joint communiqué of 1982, said a spokesperson from Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement, noting that the illegal unilateral sanctions the US has imposed on Chinese companies and individuals under various false pretexts seriously harm China’s sovereignty and security interests, undermine the peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, and violate the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies and individuals. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this and has made solemn representations to the US.

The spokesperson stressed that the Chinese government remains unwavering in its resolve to safeguard national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity and protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies and citizens. 

“We urge the US to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, observe international law and the basic norms governing international relations, stop arming Taiwan, and stop targeting China with illegal unilateral sanctions. Otherwise there will be strong and resolute response from China,” the spokesperson said the statement.

Global Times