In its most recent sanctions against the two American defense contractors, the commerce ministry of CHina added Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Technologies Corp. to a "unreliable entities list" on Thursday due to sale of weapons to Taiwan.
The measures were announced a day after Beijing threatened to take "countermeasures against relevant U.S. entities that undermine China's sovereignty and security" in response to the U.S. military shooting down what it claims was a Chinese spy balloon.
According to a statement from the commerce ministry, Raytheon Technologies' subsidiary Raytheon Missile and Defense Corporation and Lockheed Martin are not allowed to "engage in import and export activities related to China."
Beijing also forbade the companies from making additional investments in China, prohibited senior management from entering, revoked work permits for all employees, and levied fines equal to twice the agreed-upon sums for their arms sales to Taiwan.
China stated that such fines must be paid within 15 days, but it is unclear how it will carry out this requirement.
China penalized the two companies in February of last year over a $100 million arms deal with Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing considers to be a breakaway province.
China has previously announced sanctions against Lockheed and Raytheon at least twice before, in 2019 and 2020, but Beijing has not specified what those sanctions entailed or how they were applied.
China is not the recipient of any weapons sales by the US. However, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act requires the US to give Taiwan the means to defend itself, and US arms sales always infuriate China.
(Source:www.aljazeera.com)
The measures were announced a day after Beijing threatened to take "countermeasures against relevant U.S. entities that undermine China's sovereignty and security" in response to the U.S. military shooting down what it claims was a Chinese spy balloon.
According to a statement from the commerce ministry, Raytheon Technologies' subsidiary Raytheon Missile and Defense Corporation and Lockheed Martin are not allowed to "engage in import and export activities related to China."
Beijing also forbade the companies from making additional investments in China, prohibited senior management from entering, revoked work permits for all employees, and levied fines equal to twice the agreed-upon sums for their arms sales to Taiwan.
China stated that such fines must be paid within 15 days, but it is unclear how it will carry out this requirement.
China penalized the two companies in February of last year over a $100 million arms deal with Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing considers to be a breakaway province.
China has previously announced sanctions against Lockheed and Raytheon at least twice before, in 2019 and 2020, but Beijing has not specified what those sanctions entailed or how they were applied.
China is not the recipient of any weapons sales by the US. However, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act requires the US to give Taiwan the means to defend itself, and US arms sales always infuriate China.
(Source:www.aljazeera.com)
