BEIJING: China has banned the senior executives of two United States defence companies from entering the country and frozen their properties in response to their arms sales to Taiwan, the foreign ministry said on Thursday (Apr 11).
The measures effective from Thursday were against General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, which manufactures unmanned aerial systems, and military vehicle maker General Dynamics Land Systems, a unit of General Dynamics.
China said the arms sales “seriously interfere” with its internal affairs and “damage” China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“The continued sale of arms by the US to China’s Taiwan region is a serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three joint communiqués of the US and China,” it said.
China said it has frozen the firms’ properties in China and banned their senior executives from entering the country.
Both companies did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Last year, China imposed sanctions against US aerospace and defence firms Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, also for providing weapons to Taiwan.
Taiwan said its annual war games this year will practice “kill” zones at sea to break a blockade and simulate repelling a Chinese drill around the island that turns into an actual attack.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its territory, has been staging regular exercises around the island for the past four years to pressure Taipei to accept Beijing’s claim of sovereignty, despite Taiwan’s strong objections.
The US is holding a series of security discussions with several countries this week.
The US, Britain, and Australia, under the AUKUS security pact, talked about cooperation with Japan while the US separately said it would change its military command posture in Japan to allow better coordination and boost deterrence in the face of Chinese pressure.
The US will also hold a trilateral summit with Japan and the Philippines on Thursday that will discuss Beijing’s growing pressure in the South China Sea.
