The $10bn Trump-approved sale to Taipei triggers Beijing sanctions against firms such as Boeing and Northrop Grumman
China’s foreign ministry has hit US defence companies, including Boeing, with sanctions after Donald Trump approved a large package of arms sales to Taiwan.
The ministry said on Friday that the measures – against 10 individuals and 20 US firms including Boeing’s production hub at St Louis in Missouri – freeze any assets the companies and individuals hold in China and bar domestic organisations and individuals from doing business with them.
It comes after the Trump administration last week announced a package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10bn, including medium-range missiles and drones. It was the largest-ever weapons sale in the history of the bilateral relationship.
China’s stance on Taiwan – which is that it must merge with the People’s Republic of China, something that the democratically governed Taipei rejects – has been a pinch-point in its relations with the US, already worn thin over trade and tariff issues.
