China places sanctions on Lockheed Martin, Raytheon over arms sales to Taiwan

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced on Thursday that it had sanctioned US defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon over their selling arms to Taiwan.

The ministry placed both companies on an “unreliable entities list,” barring them from importing or exporting goods from China and banning them from seeking new investments in China. The announcement comes after two weeks of heightened tensions resulting from a Chinese spy balloon that floated through US airspace and was shot down off the east coast.

China placed new sanctions on both defense contractors, though only certain parts of Raytheon are included. China has long asserted that Taiwan is its territory, and the new sanctions are the latest in a series of events that have escalated the political strain in the region. China has, on multiple occasions, flown into Taiwanese airspace in what is widely seen as provocation by Beijing.

In response to the new sanctions, Lockheed issued a statement saying, “Foreign Military Sales are government-to-government transactions and we work closely with the U.S. government on any military sales to international customers. Lockheed Martin closely adheres to United States government policy with regard to conducting business with foreign governments.”

The Chinese sanctions came one week after the United States announced its own sanctions on six Chinese companies after the spy balloon incident.