China to impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin over Taiwan arms deal

China is to impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin after the US government gave the green light to a sale of missile parts to Taiwan.

In a press conference on Tuesday, China’s foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, reiterated that China “firmly opposes US arms sales to Taiwan” and confirmed: “China decides to take measures to protect national interests. We will impose sanctions on the main contractor of this arms sale, Lockheed Martin.”

The US State Department last week gave the go-ahead to a possible $620m deal between the American arms manufacturer and Taiwan. Under the deal, the island would be able to purchase parts for refurbishing Patriot surface-to-air missiles, which it uses to defend its military installations against aerial attack.

Beijing has long complained about US weapon sales to Taiwan, however. China claims sovereignty over the island although it has never directly ruled it, having been split off from the mainland after the Chinese Communist party's victory in the country's civil war between 1927 and 1949. The US has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but has a long-standing pledge to help the country defend itself.

Most of Taiwan’s military hardware is US-made.

The imposition of sanctions on Lockheed Martin – details of which were not disclosed at the press conference – is but the latest development in the ongoing tensions between Washington and Beijing.

On top of a long-running and bitter trade dispute that saw both countries impose sanctions on each other, more recently the two had clashed over Beijing's crackdown on Hong Kong and the Communist party's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

That was followed on Monday night by an explicit rebuttal by the US State Department of the legality of Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea.

As at 1145 BST, shares in Lockheed Martin were off 1% in pre-market trading. Lockheed Martin has so far made no comment.