China sanctions Lockheed Martin, Raytheon over Taiwan arms sales

China has imposed trade and investment sanctions on United States military contractors Lockheed Martin and Raytheon for supplying weapons to Taiwan in what is seen as the latest effort to isolate the self-governing island 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 Thursday.

The ministry said the firms had been placed on an “unreliable entities list” over their sale of weaponry to Taiwan.

The move appeared to either make good on an announcement of sanctions made against the firms in February 2022 or amounted to additional sanctions by Beijing.

Beijing also announced sanctions against Raytheon and other defence contractors and “relevant American individuals” in October 2020.

It was not immediately clear what effect the sanctions might have on Lockheed Martin or Raytheon. The US has already barred most sales of weapons-related technology to China, but some military contractors also have civilian businesses in aerospace and other markets.

The US is Taiwan’s main supplier of military equipment.

Raytheon Missiles and Defense, part of Raytheon Technologies Corp, was awarded a $412m contract in September to upgrade Taiwan’s military radar as part of a $1.1bn 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.