China has sanctioned two companies, Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin, for selling arms to Taiwan, Reuters reported.
"In accordance with the relevant stipulations in China's anti-foreign sanctions law, the Chinese government has decided to take countermeasures on the infringing acts of Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin," Wang Wenbin, spokesman of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, according to Reuters. "Both are military enterprises that have long participated in U.S. arm[s] sales to China's Taiwan region."
Wenbin said at a news briefing that the weapons sale "undermined China's security interests, seriously undermined China-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," Reuters said.
China has previously stated that Taiwan is the most important issue that it deals with in Washington.
The sanctions – the first under a new anti-foreign sanctions law that China imposed in response to U.S. sanctions against Chinese companies – were prompted by a Feb. 7 weapons sale of about $100 million, Reuters reported. The U.S. does not sell weapons to China, which has previously levied unspecified sanctions on the two companies, in 2019 and 2020. By contrast, the United States is a signatory on the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which requires the U.S. to provide the country with a means to defend itself.
Beijing considers Taiwan as a breakaway province that must accept Chinese sovereignty, Reuters said. Over the past two years, China has increased military and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan.