China Sanctions US Companies, Executives Over Arms Sale to Taiwan

The Chinese regime sanctioned 13 U.S. defense companies and six executives on Dec. 5 in response to the U.S. government’s latest arms sale to Taiwan.

In announcing the sanctions, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the planned arms sale “interferes in China’s internal affairs, and undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The companies targeted include drone makers such as BRINC Drones Inc. and Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems Inc.
Others include Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc., Rapid Flight LLC, Red Six Solutions, Shield AI Inc., SYNEXXUS Inc., Firestorm Labs Inc., HavocAI, Neros Technologies, Cyberlux Corporation, Domo Tactical Communications, and Group W.

The regime also sanctioned six senior executives from Raytheon, BAE Systems, Alliant Techsystems Operations, Data Link Solutions, and BRINC Drones.

The sanctioned individuals are banned from entering China. All entities’ assets in China will be frozen, and all individuals and companies in China are banned from doing business with the sanctioned entities.

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The Epoch Times has reached out to the targeted companies and individuals for comments, and did not receive any response by press time.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never ruled Taiwan, although it claims sovereignty over the self-governed island and hasn’t  ruled out taking the island by force. In recent years, the CCP has stepped up its military preparations to invade the island nation, and has conducted military drills encircling Taiwan.

Although the United States does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, it maintains ties with Taipei under the Taiwan Relations Act and the U.S. “Six Assurances” to Taiwan, which recognize Taiwan’s right to self-determination and allow Washington to sell military equipment to Taiwan for the its self-defense.

In 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, committing to “regular transfers of defense articles to Taiwan” to help the island meet “the existing and likely future threats from the People’s Republic of China.”

The recent $385 million arms sale plan was the 18th arms sale under the Biden administration.

President Joe Biden has also approved arms donations using presidential drawdown.

On Nov. 30, Taiwan’s Presidential Office thanked the United States, calling the Taiwan–U.S. security partnership “a critical cornerstone for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”

Researchers at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), told The Epoch Times that Beijing’s largely “symbolic” sanctions will not stop U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

Chung Chih-tung, assistant research fellow at INDSR’s Division of National Security Research, said the United States has continued to sell arms to Taiwan despite Beijing’s protests since 1979 because strengthening Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities via arms sales is “an integral part of the U.S. policy to deter China” from invading Taiwan.

Moreover, amid the increasingly tense U.S.–China relations, “Taiwan has an irreplaceable importance in the U.S. geostrategy of containing China,” he said.

Wang Shiow-wen, assistant research fellow at INDSR’s Division of Chinese Politics, Military and Warfighting Concepts, said increased U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan will likely continue because of Beijing’s expansion of its military capabilities.

“The military capabilities on the two sides of the [Taiwan] Strait is very imbalanced. The United States not only won’t stop arms sales to Taiwan, it will more likely sell more and better weapons to Taiwan, particularly when the United States is transitioning to a new administration,” she said.

“It has little to do with the trade war and more to do with the balance of military power in East Asia,” she said, adding that the United States cannot allow Beijing to compromise U.S. defense in the first island chain via Taiwan, or absorb the chip-making powerhouse and use it as leverage against the world.

It’s Lai’s first stopover on U.S. soil as president during a state visit to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and Palau. Beijing later criticized the United States for allowing him to transit through Hawaii.

Luo Ya contributed to this report.