China sanctions 5 US companies for selling arms to Taiwan amid tension
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Beijing: Marking another point of no return in their worsening relations, China has decided to sanction US military manufactures for selling arms to Taiwan.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson on Sunday said the arms sales would ‘seriously undermine China's sovereignty and security interests, seriously jeopardise peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait’, Reuters reported.
Relations between the world’s leading powers have been marred by tension over issues including the US arms sale to Taiwan.
China’s sanction comes ahead of Taiwan’s presidential and parliamentary elections on January 13.
Although a democratically elected government in place, China views Taiwan as its territory which the country rejects.
Last month, the US State Department approved the sale of tactical information systems costing $300 million to Taiwan.
China sanctions BAE Systems Land and Armaments, Alliant Techsystems Operations, AeroVironment, Viasat and Data Link Solutions.
Alongside freezing these companies’ assets, China bans people and organization in the country from engaging with them.
The U.S. embassy in Beijing has not yet responded to the development, which marks worsening ties between both countries.