Published 10:28 IST, July 16th 2020
China imposes sanctions on US Lockheed Martin over arms sales to Taiwan
"China firmly opposes US arms sales to Taiwan," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a press conference as he announced sanctions on Lockheed Martin.
Amid heightened tensions over verbal spat related to South China Sea maritime claims, China said it was going to impose unspecified sanctions on defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. after the US approved a $620 million deal to supply missiles and armament to Taiwan. "China firmly opposes US arms sales to Taiwan," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a press conference.
We will impose sanctions on the main contractor of this arms sale, Lockheed Martin, Lijian stressed, without specifying more details of the embargo.
While the United States has been the leading supplier of military weapons such as surface-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles to Taiwan, which is approved to upgrade at an estimated cost of $620 million only last week, China warned the US to “cut military ties with Taiwan” and not aggravate bilateral relations in a statement.
While Lockheed made 9.7 percent of its revenue from arms supply in the Asia-Pacific region, the US manufacturer has a strict policy on business with strategic rivals like China. However, in an attack on the US, China’s Foreign affairs spokesperson threatened the US to “stop selling arms and having military ties with Taiwan to avoid further damage to bilateral relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” in a press conference.
As China announced that it was taking the necessary measure to impose sanctions on the prime contractor Lockheed Martin to prevent military arms sale in Taiwan, Zhao said the decision “safeguards our national interests”. Earlier, China attacked the US, saying, that it was 'inciting confrontation' after it called the US a “troublemaker "and condemned Mike Pompeo’s statements that China’s occupation in the South China Sea was “unlawful”.
"Government decides" military sales to foreign nations
A Lockheed Martin spokesperson reportedly said that the Foreign Military Sales were government-to-government transactions and the company worked closely with the US government on military sales to international customers. Therefore, the spokesperson said, the discussions about sales to foreign governments were presided by the US government. China’s announcements come after US slapped sanctions on Chinese Communist Bash (CCP) leaders accused of undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy in view of recent national security law bills and Chinese tech company Huawei.
(Images: AP/Twitter/ Lockheed Martin Corp)
Updated 10:27 IST, July 16th 2020