Taiwan’s democratically elected President, Lai Ching-te, has faced consecutive days of sanctions from the Chinese Communist Party since his inauguration on Monday. On Wednesday (May 22), the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced sanctions against American defense contractors and senior executives. However, foreign media view this move as merely symbolic. Political analysts suggest that the CCP is merely going through the motions, mainly for domestic propaganda purposes.
On Wednesday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on its website, announcing the freezing of funds in China for 12 American defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin Corp, General Dynamics, Raytheon Missile Systems, IronMountain Solutions, and Applied Technologies Group.
The statement mentioned that 6 executives from Northrop Grumman Corporation, including CEO Kathy Warden, and 4 executives from General Dynamics, including Vice President Firat Gezen, are prohibited from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
According to Bloomberg, the sanctioned American companies do not actually sell products to China, rendering the CCP’s actions merely symbolic.
On the day of Lai Ching-te’s inauguration on May 20th, Beijing had already announced sanctions against three American defense contractors involved in arms sales to Taiwan: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems, and Boeing Defense, Space & Security.
Political commentator Li Lin-yi believes that the CCP’s sanctions this time mirror previous actions in several aspects. Firstly, it’s a case of repetitive sanctions. Lockheed Martin has been sanctioned by the CCP multiple times, and this latest instance seems to be just to continue the trend. Secondly, while the sanctions make a lot of noise, the impact on the companies being targeted is minimal. Consequently, despite the repeated sanctions against American companies, the US government rarely retaliates. Both the US and China understand that this is more a matter of appearances and internal propaganda for the CCP to appease domestic nationalist sentiments.
Previously, the US had repeatedly warned against China’s support for Russia. Treasury Secretary Yellen and Secretary of State Blinken both issued direct warnings to top Chinese officials during their recent visit to China, urging China to cease its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
During Blinken’s meeting with Chinese officials on April 26th in Beijing, he explicitly stated that without China’s support, Russia’s attack on Ukraine would be difficult to sustain.
On May 1st, the US government imposed sanctions on nearly 300 companies and individuals, including over 20 entities based in China and Hong Kong. In a statement, Yellen emphasized that companies providing material support for Russia’s war would face significant consequences, which the US enforced against nearly 300 targets.
On Tuesday (May 21), the CCP also sanctioned former US Congressman Mike Gallagher, accusing him of frequent interference in China’s internal affairs, undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and infringing on China’s interests. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not specify which actions exactly violated China’s interests.
Gallagher has been a vocal critic of the CCP and a staunch supporter of Taiwan. In response, he highlighted the necessity of dealing with an perpetually paranoid Marxist-Leninist regime, pointing out the lack of moral equivalence between the CCP and the United States.