The Chinese Defense Ministry on Friday said the United States was “pushing Taiwan toward the perils of war” after the island secured additional military equipment from U.S. stock.
China’s forces would continue to “strength military training and prepare for war,” Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said, in words that sought to emphasize Beijing’s determination to take Taiwan, of which the democratically elected government has repeatedly rejected Chinese sovereignty claims.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Defense Department approved a $228 million package of spare parts and other hardware for Taiwan’s aging air force, the latest in decades worth of arms sales to Taipei, which has not had formal diplomatic relations with Washington for 45 years.
Beijing responded on Wednesday by announcing a new round of sanctions on nine American defense companies. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the “countermeasures” would take effective immediately against Sierra Nevada Corp, Stick Rudder Enterprises, Cubic Corp., S3 AeroDefense, TCOM, TextOre, Planate Management Group, ACT1 Federal and Exovera.
“Their movable, immovable and all other types of property in China will be frozen,” said China’s Embassy in Washington, D.C. “Organizations and individuals in China will be prohibited from engaging in transactions, cooperation or other activities with the above-mentioned enterprises.”
A U.S.-made F-16V fighter jet taxis on the runway at an air force base in Taiwan’s eastern Hualien county on July 23 during the annual Han Kuang military drills. China sanctioned nine U.S. companies on September 18 after the Pentagon approved the sale of aircraft spare parts to Taiwan.
SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images
In the past year, Beijing has responded to the now frequent U.S.-Taiwan arms deals by sanctioning major American defense contractors including Boeing’s defense and space division.
“By taking countermeasures, China hopes to make the U.S. government and U.S. companies realize that if they interfere in China’s internal affairs and keep making trouble over the Taiwan question, the benefits of the Chinese market will be closed to the relevant U.S. companies,” China’s state-run Global Times tabloid quoted one analyst as saying on Thursday.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately return a request for comment after hours.
In a notification to the U.S. Congress on Monday, the Pentagon‘s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Taipei had requested “to buy return, repair, and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment.”
The hardware would be transferred from U.S. government stock but would not impact U.S. defense readiness, the statement said.
“This proposed sale serves U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability,” the agency said. “The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.”
Taiwan‘s Defense Ministry said the following day that it hoped the sale could take effect in one month.
“The Chinese Communist Party has normalized its gray-zone intrusion and harassment, hindering our navy and air force training areas and response times,” the ministry said, adding that the U.S. sale would help keep Taiwan’s aircraft in a state of readiness.
Calculations published this month by the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, suggests Taipei is still waiting for at least $20 billion worth U.S. military equipment.
The list includes $8 billion in F-16V Fighting Falcon jets, $2.3 billion in Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles, $956 million in M142 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, and $882 million in Patriot missile systems, in addition to billions more in munitions.
Taipei said in July it was hopefully it would receive all 66 F-16V jets by the end of 2026, adding to one of Asia’s largest fleets. The aircraft, approved for sale in 2019, are being built by Lockheed Martin—also sanctioned by China.
On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the U.S. arms sale to Taiwan “undermines China’s sovereignty and security interests.”
“The Taiwan question is at the core of China’s core interests, and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-U.S. relations,” Lin said.
U.S. arms sales are conducted under the provisions of the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, a law that has compelled successive administrations in the White House to support Taiwan’s self-defense preparations.
The Chinese government has long held that the U.S. pledged to wind down arms sales to Taiwan as part a joint communiqué struck around the time Beijing and Washington established formal ties in 1979.
U.S. officials, however, said no timeline was attached to the commitment, which was itself contingent on China reducing its military threats to Taiwan.
