Two American companies are sanctioned by China; They sold weapons to Taiwan

China’s government is angry over US arms sales to Taiwan.

The announcement was made by Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

China announced sanctions this Friday against two companies in the US defense industry, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.for its role in supplying weapons to Taiwan, an island it considers part of its territory.

“Lockheed Martin Corporation participated directly as a prime contractor in the sale of US arms to Taiwan on August 24. Northrop Grumman has participated on numerous occasions in the sale of US arms to Taiwan,” said Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. .

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“China has decided to impose sanctions on the two American military companies“he added.

“Despite strong opposition from China, the US government is determined to provide arms to Taiwan (…) seriously damaging China’s sovereignty and security interestsand going further and further down the wrong and dangerous path of arming Taiwan,” the spokesperson said at a press conference.

For five decades, the United States has only officially recognized Beijing, although Congress, under the Taiwan Relations Act, requires the supply of arms to the autonomous democracy for its defense. Different US administrations have done so through sales and not direct aid to Taiwan.

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But in August, Washington for the first time approved direct U.S. military aid to Taiwan under an assistance program aimed at foreign governments.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory to recover one day and opposes any type of official relationship between the island’s authorities and foreign governments.