China announced sanctions against 30 U.S. defense industry companies and executives after the U.S. proceeded with a major arms sale to Taiwan, warning Washington to stop "dangerous" actions that cross sovereignty red lines related to Taiwan.
On 26 December 2025 GMT+7, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced sanctions against 20 U.S. defense companies and 10 individuals in response to the U.S. approving an $11.1 billion arms sale package to Taiwan, one of the largest deals ever recorded.
China stated the sanctions are in response to U.S. military support for Taiwan, which China insists is part of its sovereignty. Beijing warned that any provocative actions crossing the Taiwan sovereignty line will face strong retaliation and called on the U.S. to cease its "dangerous" efforts to arm Taiwan.
The sanctioned companies include Boeing’s St. Louis branch, Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, L3Harris Maritime Services, and Lazarus AI, among others.
China specified that the sanctions cover asset freezes within China, prohibit domestic entities and individuals from doing business with the sanctioned companies, seize assets of penalized individuals in China, and ban their entry into the country, all effective immediately on 26 December.
Among the sanctioned individuals are the founder of Anduril Industries and nine other senior executives from various defense companies.
Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the arms sale package to Taiwan on 17 December, including 82 HIMARS rocket systems, 420 ATACMS missiles worth over $4 billion, artillery valued over $4 billion, and military drones exceeding $1 billion. Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense subsequently issued a statement thanking the U.S. for enhancing its self-defense capabilities and rapidly strengthening its deterrence amid ongoing tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
Source: Aljazeera