In response to last week’s announcement of the latest U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, Beijing said Monday (Oct. 26) that it would take sanctions against the manufacturers involved in the arms sale, making good on a warning from China’s Foreign Ministry last week that it would retaliate.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian announced Monday that China has decided to take the necessary measures to impose sanctions on U.S. companies involved in the arms sale to Taiwan, including U.S. military manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, and aircraft manufacturer Boeing, as well as on U.S. individuals and entities that “played a pernicious role” in the arms sale to Taiwan.
Zhao Lijian, however, did not specify what the sanctions would be. But analysts point out that China is one of the largest overseas markets for Boeing’s commercial aircraft, which could be a focus for Beijing’s sanctions. In addition, Lockheed Martin’s F-35, a fifth-generation fighter jet that uses large amounts of rare earths, could also be a target for China’s sanctions. The United States gets 80 percent of its rare earths supply from China. The Chinese media has also been threatening to use the rare earth supply cut-off as a “killer weapon” against U.S. pressure.
Last Wednesday, the U.S. State Department announced the approval of three military sales to Taiwan, including the Seamus high-mobility rocket system, the SLAM-ER, an out-of-area precision missile, and a new reconnaissance pod for F-16 fighter jets, valued at about $1.8 billion.
The two other weapons that have received the most attention in the near future that could be sold to Taiwan are the MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by General Atomics and the land-based Harpoon anti-ship missile developed by McDonnell Douglas. The proposed sale is currently under review by the U.S. Congress.
Zhao immediately reacted to the State Department’s announcement of the arms sale last week, expressing Beijing’s anger with four “serious” words.
Zhao said the U.S. approach “seriously interferes in China’s internal affairs, seriously undermines China’s sovereignty and security interests, sends a serious wrong signal to Taiwan independence and separatist forces, and seriously undermines China-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” and “China firmly opposes it.
Zhao Lijian also warned that China will make “justifiable and necessary responses” based on the development of the situation.
Observers say Beijing’s strong reaction to the U.S. arms sale decision is largely due to the weapons’ offensive capabilities, which can cover targets along China’s southeastern coastline, a dramatic change from past U.S. practice of limiting arms sales to Taiwan to defensive weapons.
The main reason for this change is that China’s military threat to Taiwan is unprecedented. In recent months, the Chinese military has repeatedly breached the long-agreed cross-Strait centerline in the Taiwan Strait, sending military aircraft and warships close to Taiwan for harassment and reconnaissance, and holding large-scale military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan military experts point out that these changes in the situation in the Taiwan Strait have forced the U.S. to improve the performance of its arms sales and increase the cost to the PLA of attacking Taiwan in order to deter the other side of the Taiwan Strait.
According to Reuters, a Boeing spokesman said in an emailed statement that Boeing has a long-standing relationship with the Chinese aviation industry and that Boeing’s commitment to that relationship remains unchanged.
Both Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have yet to respond to China’s decision to impose sanctions.
U.S.-China relations have deteriorated sharply this year, with the Taiwan issue, the South China Sea issue, the Hong Kong issue, and human rights issues in Xinjiang and Tibet raising the level of confrontation between the world’s two largest economies. The Chinese military has frequently deployed military aircraft and warships to harass Taiwan, and Beijing has repeatedly warned Taiwan that it will reunify the country with China.
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