During the course of this week, more particularly on Wednesday, the government of the People’s Republic of China has announced that it will impose sanctions on twelve United States companies in the military-industrial complex sector and ten of its executives. The reason is found on two fronts, one of them appears as retaliation for the supply of US weapons to Taiwan, while the second arises as a response to US sanctions on Chinese companies for supplying weapons to Russia.
The sanctions imposed by China are framed within what is known as the Chinese Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, which provides for the freezing of assets of the aforementioned companies and the prohibition of directors from entering the Asian country. Along these lines, large entities of the North American military complex such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Boeing and Northrop Grumman will be affected by the measure.
It should be noted that these are by no means the first sanctions that the Asian Giant decides to implement against the most important US defense companies. Already in January, in line with the first of the arguments raised above, China had decided to sanction five companies that had taken part in the aid package of more than 300 million dollars sent to Taiwan; These were: BAE Systems Land and Armament, ViaSat, Alliant Techsystems Operation, Data Link Solutions and AeroVironment. Other history of the climb can be found in 2019 and 2021.
It will also be useful to remember that the arrival of the new president of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te, has meant an increase in the independence rhetoric of the island that China considers its own, and that depends heavily on the link with the United States obliged by law to guarantee the supply of weapons to the disputed territory. Recently, with the announcement of important military exercises surrounding the island, the Asian Giant shows that it is strongly determined to nip in the bud any possibility of independence that breaks with the idea of “one China”even for weapons.
Regarding the second front presented at the beginning, the United States had increased pressure on Chinese companies at the beginning of this month with the implementation of sanctions on those accused of collaborating with the Russian war effort. These were hundreds of companies involved both in the sale of weapons to Russia and in facilitating the evasion of sanctions imposed by the West.
Summarizing both issues, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that the sanctions were decided after the US: ““indiscriminately imposed illegal unilateral sanctions on various Chinese entities based on so-called Russia-related factors (…) and continued to sell weapons to China’s Taiwan.”
*Images used for illustrative purposes
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