China sanctions nine US defense firms

BEIJING

China imposed sanctions on nine U.S. defense firms on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said, describing the measures as retaliation for Washington's approval of military equipment sales to Taiwan this week.

"Weapons sales by the United States to China's Taiwan region have seriously violated the one-China principle,... seriously infringed upon China's sovereignty and security interests, [and] damaged China-U.S. relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news conference.

"China strongly condemns and firmly opposes this and has lodged solemn representations with the United States," Lin said.

He said Beijing was "taking resolute countermeasures" by imposing sanctions on nine U.S. defense firms, which were announced in an earlier ministry statement.

The companies, which include aerospace firm Sierra Nevada Corporation, will have their assets in China frozen and all transactions with China-based people and entities will be prohibited, the statement said.

The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 but has remained Taiwan's most important partner and its biggest arms supplier, sparking repeated condemnations from China.

Beijing and Washington have repeatedly butted heads in recent years on a range of other issues related to trade, access to advanced technology and China's increasingly assertive actions in the disputed South China Sea.