China Hits Boeing and Raytheon With Sanctions Over US Arms to Taiwan

Beijing — China is to impose sanctions on top managers at two US arms companies in response to recent weapons sales to Taiwan, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning announced in Beijing on Friday.

The arms deliveries by Raytheon Technologies and Boeing Defense, Space and Security were harming China's sovereignty and security interests, she said.

The measures, which were not set out in detail, are to target Raytheon chief executive Gregory Hayes and Ted Colbert, head of the Boeing defence division, on account of their direct involvement in the recent arms deals.

The United States should stop delivering arms to Taiwan and maintaining military contacts with Taipei, Mao said.

At the beginning of September, the US approved arms exports to Taiwan to the value of $1.1 billion. According to media reports, the package includes 60 Harpoon anti-ship missiles and 100 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, along with support for an air defence radar system.

The deliveries were justified on the grounds of the increasing pressure applied by China on the self-governing democratic island of Taiwan, which Beijing regards as an integral part of the People's Republic.

The visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives, at the start of August exacerbated tensions and led Beijing to conduct large-scale military manoeuvres near the island that exercised a blockade and a possible invasion.

The US has committed itself to providing Taiwan with arms in a policy termed "deliberate or strategic ambiguity" with respect to whether it would actually go to the island's defence.

©2022 dpa GmbH. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.