China has sanctioned 13 US companies involved in the manufacturing of drones and artificial intelligence in Beijing’s latest protest against weapons sales to Taiwan, which have increased in recent months.
“The Taiwan question is at the core of China’s core interests. In recent months, the US has announced multiple arms sales to China’s Taiwan region,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters.
Lin said the recent US weapons sales “gravely interfere in China’s internal affairs” and Beijing decided to “take countermeasures against relevant military companies and senior executives of the US.”
Recent US arms sales the US has approved for Taiwan include support for the island’s fleet of F-16 fighter jets, air defense systems, and radar systems. Taiwan also recently signed a contract to purchase 1,000 attack drones from the US.
Besides the weapons sales, President Biden recently signed off on a $567 million military aid package for Taiwan of weapons shipped straight from US stockpiles, a form of support the US first provided the island in 2023, which marked an escalation.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a press release that the 13 companies China has sanctioned include “Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., BRINC Drones, Inc., Rapid Flight LLC, Red Six Solutions, Shield AI, Inc., SYNEXXUS, Inc., Firestorm Labs, Inc., Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems, Inc., HavocAI, Neros Technologies, Cyberlux Corporation, Domo Tactical Communications, and Group W.”
The press release said China also sanctioned six arms industry executives: “Barbara Borgonovi, President of Naval Power strategic business unit of Raytheon, Gerard Hueber, Vice President of Naval Power strategic business unit of Raytheon, Charles Woodburn, Chief Executive Officer of BAE Systems Land and Armaments, Richard D. Crawford, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Alliant Techsystems Operations, Beth Edler, President of Data Link Solutions, and Blake Resnick, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BRINC Drones.”
LOL. That is just too funny.
There are always ways around sanctions, like importing from a third party country unsanctioned.
Of course not at the same level, but I watched a Russian woman videotape a tour of a supermarket fully stocked with US products.
Do that many countries manufacture drones and remote satelite guidance systems?? And ones that wouldn't be bothered by retaliatory Clhina sanctions?
I could not answer.
It's a blatant lie, it interferes with their ability to bomb and invade Taiwan, which is a separate country with its own elections, its own laws, its own courts, its own police, its own military, its own schools, its own culture. No Taiwanese want to be invaded and controlled by the dictatorship in Beijing. Who aren't communist as they have a market economy, but they are corrupt and thieving, and would lose any election in China immediately.
Everyone knows Taiwan has been a nation for many generations. CHINA KNOWS IT TOO as they trade with Taiwan regularly, respecting Taiwanese laws in the trade.
For example, six airlines go from Taipei to the mainland and back every day, both Chinese and Taiwanese airlines, and both Chinese and Taiwanese laws and airspace are recognized in this travel.
Taiwan has invested enormously in China, more than the U.S. has, and China respects Taiwanese laws in matters like taxes. China has also invested in Taiwan, and again the separate laws of the two nations are respected.
Foreign nations are just afraid to state clearly that Taiwan is a separate nation – which they know since they also respect Taiwanese laws – because they don't want to lose trade with China.
So the nonsense about "internal" and "Taiwan ACKSHUALLY belongs to China" is just propaganda to give young Chinese men a foreign target to focus on, like Turkey does with northern Syria. To distract from the horrible work conditions in Chinese factories and office buildings.
Just to name one thing, office buildings full of cigarette smoke, which the law forbids, but government inspectors are easily bribed. And there are factories where they throw toxic waste straight on the floor, where the peasants turned workers have to step on it. And managers who withhold the pay for the employees for weeks, keeping it in a private bank account to collect interest, before paying. I know this from Chinese who have seen this and worked in these conditions.
That's their rights and no one can take that from them…!