Chinese commentators have accused the U.S. of “interfering” in its politics by arming Taiwan—and warned that Beijing would retaliate “swiftly, accurately, powerfully… [and] painfully.”
The claims were made in an editorial published on Sunday in the Global Times, an English-language publication launched by the Chinese government to address Western readers. The opinion piece said that in response to “deplorable and dangerous” U.S. meddling in Taiwan, the Chinese government has hit five American defense firms with sanctions, including “freezing the properties of those companies in China.”
The latest sanctions, announced over the weekend, have been enforced just days before Taiwan’s elections, which have been hit by fears of Chinese interference.
The move appears to be in response to a $300 million sale of U.S. equipment in mid-December 2023 to help maintain Taiwan’s tactical information systems.
It follows previous Chinese sanctions against American defense giants Lockheed Martin, Boeing Defense, and Raytheon, following multibillion dollar arms sales to Taiwan back in October 2020.
The Communist Party leadership in Beijing claims Taiwan is part of historic Chinese territory and is to be unified with the mainland, despite Taipei’s objections.
Read more at Newsweek.com
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