China Sanctions 9 US Firms Over Arms Sales to Taiwan

China’s communist regime has imposed sanctions on nine U.S. defense companies over recent arms sales to Taiwan, including freezing their properties in China. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) described the sanctions, which went into effect on Sept. 18, as “countermeasures,” which include freezing the targeted firms’ properties in China and prohibiting Chinese organizations and individuals from conducting transactions with these companies. According to the Chinese foreign ministry, the nine U.S. military-linked companies include Sierra Nevada Corporation, Stick Rudder Enterprises LLC, Cubic Corporation, S3 Aerospace, TCOM Ltd. Partnership, TextOre, Planate Management Group, ACT1 Federal, and Exovera. In recent years, the CCP has stepped up its military preparations to invade Taiwan, the self-ruled island whose official name is the Republic of China (ROC). The ROC’s nationalist government retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after being defeated by the communists in China’s civil war. Under Mao Zedong, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was founded on the mainland. Although the PRC has never ruled Taiwan, the CCP claims sovereignty over the island nation....