Beijing announced on Tuesday that it will impose sanctions against Lockheed Martin for its involvement in the latest U.S. sale of arms to Taiwan, adding more frictions to its troubled ties with the United States.
Lockheed Martin is the principal contractor for a $620 million upgrade program for China-claimed Taiwan's Patriot surface-to-air missiles (SAM), approved last week by the U.S. government.
Speaker of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Zhao Lijian called on the US to stop selling arms to Taiwan to avoid further damaging China-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The move comes as animosity grows on a range of aspects between Beijing and Washington, from the South China Sea trade discord and territorial claims to the global health crisis as well as the recent security legislation China has imposed on Hong Kong. Zhao called on the US to break off military links with Taiwan - which China considers part of its territory - in order to prevent further harm to bilateral relations.
The possible sale of military weapons involves Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missiles and would be Taiwan's latest acquisition from the US to bolster its defense capabilities as China ramps up its military.
In a regular briefing on Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Beijing firmly opposes the American arms sales to Taiwan and urged Washington to abide by the concept that Taiwan is part of "One China". Taiwan's foreign ministry countered that it "strongly condemns China's irrational outbursts and crude threats" over the US announcement, AFP reported, as posted on Yahoo News.
The U.S. does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but it is mandated to give the island military support under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act and has done so for many years. China views such weaspons transactions as a violation of Chinese sovereignty and condemns the move as foreign intervention.
He Weiwen, an executive council member of the China Society for WTO Studies, said that Lockheed Martin has thus become the first American firm since the start of the China-US trade spat to be directly targeted by Chinese authorities for sanctions.
Wang Ya'nan, a Chinese aviation industry expert, said that the sanctions will deter other US arms makers from selling weapons to Taiwan, and unlike Lockheed Martin, groups like Boeing may be targeted even harder in possible sanctions because they have more direct business relations with China.
