WASHINGTON —
On Friday (December 27), the Chinese government once again used the United States’ military aid and arms sales to Taiwan as an excuse to announce sanctions against seven US military companies and related executives.
This is the second time in a month that the Beijing authorities have taken the same countermeasures for the same reason. On December 5, the Chinese government announced sanctions against 13 US military companies and six corporate executives on the grounds that the United States recently sold arms to Taiwan again, “violating” the so-called “one China principle” and the three Sino-US joint communiqués.
“The United States recently announced again that it would provide large amounts of arms assistance and sell weapons to the Taiwan region of China. The US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 includes many negative clauses related to China, which seriously violates the one China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiqués, seriously interferes in China’s internal affairs, and seriously damages China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed in its Order No. 16 released on Friday. On
December 20, the US State Department approved two arms sales to Taiwan, namely the “Link-16 terminal” upgrade case and the “76 rapid-fire gun seat” parts case, with a value of approximately US$265 million. This is also the 19th time President Joe Biden has announced arms sales to Taiwan.
On the same day, the White House announced that President Biden approved $571.3 million in military aid to Taiwan.
At that time, a spokesperson for Beijing’s diplomats issued a statement in response to reporters’ questions, accusing the US of “seriously infringing China’s sovereignty and security interests”, “seriously violating the US leaders’ promise not to support ‘Taiwan independence’”, and “sending a serious wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces”. China not only “strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed”, but also “made solemn representations to the US at the first time”.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said that the two latest US arms sales to Taiwan are aimed at meeting the needs of Taiwan’s military to upgrade its joint combat command and control system, and improving defense resilience and strengthening its ability to deal with the gray area of the Beijing authorities. As for the content of US military aid to Taiwan, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense pointed out that based on the tacit understanding between Taiwan and the United States, it would not comment on this.
In the sanctions order issued on Friday, the Beijing Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that China has decided to implement countermeasures against seven military industrial enterprises and their relevant executives in accordance with the relevant provisions of the “Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law”.
Specific countermeasures include: “Freezing movables, immovables and other types of property in our country; prohibiting organizations and individuals in our country from engaging in related transactions, cooperation and other activities with them.”
The Beijing Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the relevant countermeasures will be implemented from the date of announcement on Friday.
The seven companies sanctioned include Boeing’s Insitu, Inc., Hudson Technologies Co., Saronic Technologies, Inc., Raytheon Canada, Raytheon Australia, Aerkomm Inc., and Oceaneering International, Inc. The
two sides of the Taiwan Strait share the same culture and ethnicity, but have been separated and governed since 1949. However, Beijing has always believed that it has sovereignty over Taiwan, which has fully achieved democratization and full autonomy, and has threatened to achieve unification between the two sides even by resorting to force. In recent years, as China’s national strength and military power have increased, the Beijing authorities have also increased military pressure on Taiwan. The People’s Liberation Army’s fighter jets and warships conduct exercises and intrusions in the sea and air around Taiwan almost every day.
At the same time, Taiwan has repeatedly improved its self-defense capabilities through self-made weapons and purchases from the United States. Although the United States does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, its support and assistance to Taiwan has gradually increased, especially the closer and deeper military and security relations between the United States and Taiwan.
After the U.S. government broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1979, the U.S. Congress quickly passed the Taiwan Relations Act, which stipulates that the U.S. government must provide Taiwan with weapons, equipment and services needed for self-defense. Since then, successive U.S. governments have sold weapons to Taiwan in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act, and in recent years, as Beijing’s military threats and pressure on Taiwan have increased, the level and density of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan have also increased accordingly.
The U.S. government has stated that it does not support Taiwan independence, but at the same time opposes any unilateral change in the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by either side of the Taiwan Strait.