The White House considers these measures “symbolic” and “unnecessary”.
Beijing:
China on Thursday put a unit of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies on its “unreliable entities list” over arms sales to Taiwan, banning them on China-related imports and exports in its latest sanctions against US companies.
The move comes amid heightened tensions a day after the US military shot down a Chinese spy balloon and Beijing warned of “retaliation against relevant US entities that undermine China’s sovereignty and security”. .
Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Technologies Corp’s subsidiary Raytheon Missile & Defense Corp have been banned from “engaging in China-related import and export activities”, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday, “These are symbolic measures and unnecessary — that’s how we see them.”
No company sells defense products to China. Raytheon declined to comment. Raytheon Technologies sells its Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, as well as landing gear and controls, to China’s commercial aviation industry.
Lockheed, which exports to more than 70 countries, said in a statement: “Foreign military sales are government-to-government transactions and we work closely with the US government on any military sales to international customers. Lockheed Martin closely follows the United States government.” Policy in relation to doing business with foreign governments.
Lockheed builds the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, which took off on a mission to shoot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina using an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile made by Raytheon.
Beijing also banned companies from further investing in China, barred senior management from entering the country, revoked residence permits of any employees in China, and imposed fines on those found guilty of arms sales to Taiwan. twice the contracted amount.
It was not clear how China would enforce such a fine, which it said must be paid within 15 days.
Last February, China sanctioned two companies over arms sales worth more than $100 million to Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing views as a separate province.
On at least two previous occasions, China has announced sanctions against Lockheed and Raytheon in 2019 and 2020, although Beijing has not said what the sanctions were or how they were implemented.
America does not sell weapons to China. However, the United States is bound by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 to provide Taiwan with the means of its defense, and US arms sales have always attracted China’s ire.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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