BEIJING: China has imposed trade and investment sanctions on United States military contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon for supplying weapons to Taiwan, which China claims as part of its own territory.

The US arms manufacturing companies are barred from importing goods into China or making new investments in the country, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on February 16.

The ministry said the firms had been placed on an “unreliable entities list” over their sale of weaponry to Taiwan. The US is Taiwan’s main supplier of military equipment.

Raytheon Missiles and Defence, part of Raytheon Technologies Corp, was awarded a $412 million contract in September to upgrade Taiwan’s military radar as part of a $1.1 billion package of US arms sales to the island. Lockheed Martin has supplied Taiwan’s military with radar, helicopters and air traffic control equipment. In China, Lockheed Martin has sold air traffic control equipment for civilian airports and helicopters for commercial use.

The announcement of sanctions on the US firms follows less than a week after the US blacklisted six Chinese entities in retaliation over an alleged Chinese spy balloon entering US airspace.

Courtesy: Al Jazeera