China has sanctioned 13 U.S. military companies in response to D.C.’s planned arms sales to Taiwan.
The arms sales included a $385-million deal for spare parts for F-16 jets and radar components.
“The United States recently announced the sale of weapons to Taiwan, China, seriously violating the one-China principle and the three joint communiqués of China and the United States, seriously interfering in China’s internal affairs and seriously damaging China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China announced.
Companies targeted by China include Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc., BRINC Drones Inc., Shield AI, Rapid Flight LLC, Red Six Solutions, SYNEXXUS Inc, Firestorm Labs Inc, Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems Inc, HavocAI, Neros Technologies, Cyberlux Corporation, Domo Tactical Communications, and Group W.
Six executives were also targeted: Barbara Borgonov, President of the Naval Force Strategic Operations Department of Thor; Gerard Hueber, Vice President of the Naval Force Strategic Operations Department of Thor Company; Charles Woodburn, CEO of Beye Land and Weapon Systems; Richard D. Crawford, founder and CEO of United Technology System Operating Company; Beth Edler, President of data link solution company; and Blake Resnick, founder and CEO of BRINC.
“The P.R.C. under Xi Jinping has been increasingly open to using economic levers to exert pressure on external parties,” Ja Ian Chong, associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, told The New York Times. “That said, given that U.S. defense contractors have restrictions in what business they can do with the P.R.C., the sanctions are largely symbolic and perhaps intend to warn defense firms from other countries against selling equipment and services to Taiwan.”
