“China’s sovereignty violated”
Beijing draws conclusions from US arms sales to Taiwan
September 15, 2023, 4:17 p.m
Tensions between Washington and Beijing continue to escalate: in order to strengthen Taiwan against China, US companies are selling weapons to the island. China sees this as a threat to its security – and is reacting in accordance with its “anti-foreign sanctions law”.
China has imposed sanctions on two US defense companies over arms sales to Taiwan. According to its “Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law,” Beijing has decided to impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters. China is calling on the US to stop selling weapons to Taiwan. Otherwise, there will “inevitably be a decisive and strong reaction from China.”
The US Congress committed itself to supplying arms to the democratic island for its defense in the Taiwan Relations Act. So far, Washington has relied more on sales than direct military aid. However, in August the US approved direct military aid to Taiwan for the first time as part of an aid program for foreign governments.
Despite China’s firm rejection, the US government is “determined to supply arms to Taiwan,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao. This “seriously” violates China’s sovereignty and security interests and “continues to go down the wrong and dangerous path of arming Taiwan.”
Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman on the sanctions list
According to her, Lockheed Martin was the prime contractor in the US arms sales to Taiwan that took place on August 24. The second company, Northrop Grumman, was involved in the sales “many times.” The US arms package worth $80 million (around 75 million euros) approved in August was rather small compared to recent sales. But it was the first aid for Taipei under the foreign military financing program, which usually includes grants or loans to sovereign states.
Since the political split between mainland China and Taiwan in 1949, Beijing has viewed the self-governing island as a breakaway territory that it wants to reunite with the mainland – if necessary with military force. In recent years, the presence of Chinese warships and army aircraft around Taiwan has increased significantly. According to the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense, 68 aircraft and ten ships were counted off the coast of Taiwan between Wednesday and Thursday morning alone.