China hits US defense companies with sanctions over arms sales to Taiwan

• Sanctioned executives, including Anduril’s founder, have been barred from entering China.
• Targets include Northrop Grumman, L3Harris, Boeing’s defense arm.
• China calls Taiwan a “core interest”. The US reaffirms its defense support.

China’s foreign ministry announced sanctions on Friday targeting 10 individuals and 20 US defense companies, including Boeing’s branch in St. Louis, for arms sales to Taiwan.

A US State Department spokesman said the United States strongly opposed China’s move, which freezes all assets held by companies and individuals in China and bans domestic organizations and individuals from doing business with them.

People on the Chinese list, including the founder of defense firm Anduril Industries and nine senior executives from the sanctioned companies, are also banned from entering China, he added.

Other companies targeted include Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and L3Harris Maritime Services, and Boeing’s St Louis subsidiary, which focuses on defense work.

The Chinese move appears largely symbolic given China’s lack of dealings with US defense companies, while it has been a major buyer of Boeing civil aircraft.

The move follows Washington’s announcement last week of $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest US arms package to the island, angering Beijing.

“The Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests and the first insurmountable red line in China-US relations,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement on Friday.

“Any provocative actions that cross the line on the Taiwan issue will be met with a strong response from China,” the statement said, calling on the US to stop its “dangerous” efforts to arm the island.

China considers democratically-ruled Taiwan part of its territory, a claim that Taipei rejects.

The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, although such arms sales are a persistent source of friction with China.

The State Department spokesman said this policy “has remained consistent across nine different US administrations and helps maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

“We strongly oppose Beijing’s efforts to retaliate against US companies for their support of US arms sales that support Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” the spokesman said, while urging Beijing to stop military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan and instead start meaningful dialogue with Taipei.

Boeing is in talks to sell Chinese carriers up to 500 civilian jets, according to a report in September, which would represent a breakthrough for the company in the world’s second-largest aviation market, where orders have stalled amid US-China trade tensions.