China Sanctions 20 US Defense Firms, Issues ‘Red Line’ Warning Over Record Taiwan Arms Deal

After sounding the constant warning that Washington is “playing with fire” in continually arming and supporting self-ruled Taiwan, China’s foreign ministry announced Friday new sanctions on ten individuals and 20 American defense companies, mostly notably among them Boeing, specifically in response to American arms sales to Taiwan.

The ministry described that the sanctions freeze any assets that the listed people and firms hold in China and prohibit Chinese organizations and citizens from conducting business with them, and singled out Boeing’s St. Louis-based defense branch, Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and L3Harris Maritime Services – among others.

Also on the list is Palmer Luckey, the founder of defense firm Anduril Industries. The sanctioned executives are barred from traveling to mainland China, as well as Hong Kong and Macau.

“In response to the latest US announcement of large-scale arms sales to China’s Taiwan region, China has decided to take countermeasures in accordance with the anti-foreign sanctions law against 20 US defense-related companies and 10 senior executives who have engaged in arming Taiwan in recent years,” stated the Chinese foreign ministry.

“Anyone who attempts to cross the line and make provocations on the Taiwan question will be met with China’s firm response… No country or force shall ever underestimate the resolve, will, and ability of the Chinese government and people to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it added.

The ministry described that “movable and immovable properties, and other kinds of assets” of these American firms and individuals within China “shall be frozen.”

The punitive measure follows the Trump administration’s provocative announcement last week of an $11.1 billion arms package for Taiwan, which is record-setting, confirmed as the largest such US sale to the island to date.

Beijing has said “The Taiwan issue lies at the heart of China’s core interests and represents the first red line in China-U.S. relations that must not be crossed,” according to a foreign ministry spokesperson.

The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the major arms sales are intended to support Taipei’s efforts to “modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.”

The biggest chunks of the package include some $4 billion of Himars truck-based missile launchers, enough for 82 of the advanced systems.

The Himars have enough range to be able to reach targets on China’s east coast, which introduces a new level of ‘deterrence’ from Taipei’s and Washington’s perspectives.

This revelation that Chinese cargo ships are being set up with sensors and missile launchers is part of a pattern. The CCP is using civilian ships as military. Many ships in the countries fishing fleets have also been militarized.
No tech equipment from China should be trusted.…

— Michael Ron Bowling (@mrbcyber) December 26, 2025

Last week, soon on the heels of this, Beijing issued a blistering statement saying, “The ‘Taiwan independence’ forces on the island seek independence through force and resist reunification through force, squandering the hard-earned money of the people to purchase weapons at the cost of turning Taiwan into a powder keg.”

That prior statement had added, “This cannot save the doomed fate of ‘Taiwan independence’ but will only accelerate the push of the Taiwan Strait toward a dangerous situation of military confrontation and war. The U.S. support for ‘Taiwan Independence’ through arms will only end up backfiring. Using Taiwan to contain China will not succeed.”