China Sanctions more US Defense Firms

Dronemaker General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems, have been sanctioned by the Chinese government for their sales to the government of Taiwan.   

Countermeasures include:

1.All of their movable and immovable properties, and other kinds of assets within China shall be frozen.

2.Their senior management shall be denied visas or entry into China.

General Dynamics operates Gullfstream and jet aviation services operations in China.  General Dynamics Land Systems builds armored vehicles including the Abrams tank, for the Taipei government.

Last September China sanctioned Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin  on the same grounds.

In February 2023 Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Missiles & Defence were added to  to China’s “Unreliable Entity List” over their participation in arms sales to Taiwan.

“Unreliable Entities” are
• prohibited from engaging in import and export activities related to China;
• prohibited from making new investments in China; and
• subject to fines of twice the contract value of their arms sales to Taiwan since September 2020, when the list was established. Further fines will be imposed if payment is not made within 15 days.

The use of the Unreliable Entity  measure “is strictly limited and aimed at very few foreign entities breaking the law,” according to the Ministry of Commerce.

In February 2022, Lockheed and Raytheon were targeted by China over a missile defense system the two firms agreed to provide to Taiwan. Raytheon units Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace remain unaffected by the move.

Missing from either announcement was Boeing, Taipei’s supplier of Harpoon anti-ship missiles. In September 2022, China levied sanctions against Boeing Defense, Space & Security chief executive Ted Colbert and Raytheon chief executive Gregory Hayes in retaliation for those missile sales.

"The continued U.S. arms sales to China's Taiwan region seriously violate the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, interfere in China's internal affairs, and undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

{MFA Announcement]