China blacklists Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin unit over Taiwan arms sales
- Beijing warns of a forceful response if Washington goes ahead with further military deals to the island
- Foreign ministry does not specify the sanctions but warns that it will be ‘resolute’
Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the St Louis, Missouri, branch of Lockheed Martin was the main contractor in a US arms sale to Taipei on August 24 while Northrop Grumman, based in Falls Church, Virginia, had been involved in supplying weapons to Taiwan “multiple times”.
Mao said Washington was “going further down the wrong and dangerous path of arming Taiwan” despite Beijing’s “firm opposition”.
“We urge the US side … to stop selling weapons to Taiwan, to stop the US-Taiwan military collusion and to stop arming Taiwan, otherwise it will be met with resolute and forceful countermeasures of China,” she said.
03:15
Taiwan holds nuclear emergency drill as mainland Chinese planes enter island’s air defence zone
The State Department announced three weeks ago that the US had approved a half-billion-dollar sale of advanced sensor systems built by Lockheed Martin for F-16 fighter jets to Taipei.