West News Wire: In what is believed to be the most recent effort to isolate the self-governing island that Beijing claims as part of its own territory, China has placed trade and investment penalties on American defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that US arms manufacturers are not permitted to import products into China or make new investments there.
The enterprises, according to the ministry, were put on a “unreliable entities list” because they sold weapons to Taiwan.
The action looked to be either a follow-through on Beijing’s February 2022 announcement of sanctions against the companies or new measures.
Beijing also announced sanctions against Raytheon and other defence contractors and “relevant American individuals” in October 2020.
It was not immediately clear what effect the sanctions might have on Lockheed Martin or Raytheon. The US has already barred most sales of weapons-related technology to China, but some military contractors also have civilian businesses in aerospace and other markets.
The US is Taiwan’s main supplier of military equipment.
Raytheon Missiles and Defense, part of Raytheon Technologies Corp, was awarded a $412m contract in September to upgrade Taiwan’s military radar as part of a $1.1bn package of US arms sales to the island. Lockheed Martin has supplied Taiwan’s military with radar, helicopters and air traffic control equipment.
In China, Lockheed Martin has sold air traffic control equipment for civilian airports and helicopters for commercial use.
The announcement of sanctions on the US firms follows less than a week after the US blacklisted six Chinese entities in retaliation over an alleged Chinese spy balloon entering US airspace.
The US is Taiwan’s main supplier of military equipment.
Raytheon Missiles and Defense, part of Raytheon Technologies Corp, was awarded a $412m contract in September to upgrade Taiwan’s military radar as part of a $1.1bn package of US arms sales to the island. Lockheed Martin has supplied Taiwan’s military with radar, helicopters and air traffic control equipment.
In China, Lockheed Martin has sold air traffic control equipment for civilian airports and helicopters for commercial use.
The announcement of sanctions on the US firms follows less than a week after the US blacklisted six Chinese entities in retaliation over an alleged Chinese spy balloon entering US airspace.
The six entities blacklisted were Beijing Nanjing Aerospace Technology Co, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, 48th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology, Dongguan Lingkong Remote Sensing Technology Co, Eagles Men Aviation Science and Technology Group Co, Guangzhou Tian-Hai-Xiang Aviation Technology Co and Shanxi Eagles Men Aviation Science and Technology Group Co.
The blacklisting will make it more difficult for the five companies and one research institute to obtain US technology exports.
Beijing and Washington should better manage their disagreements about the Chinese balloon incident, according to China’s foreign ministry on Thursday.
Prior to President Joe Biden’s scheduled statement on the subject, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Wang Wenbin said: “The Chinese unmanned civilian blimp that strayed into US airspace was absolutely a force majeure mishap.”
On Thursday, Biden is anticipated to speak in the most detail yet about the four objects that were recently brought down by American fighter jets, including the high-altitude Chinese balloon.
Legislators are pressuring the president to talk more about the UFOs that have been flying over US land.
Beijing has refuted claims that the balloon was being used for surveillance, insisting that it was merely a weather balloon.
