China Turns Tables on US Over Russia-Ukraine War Sanctions

U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers (C), F-22 fighter jets and South Korean Air Force F-35 fighter jets (bottom) fly during a joint air drill on February 1, 2023, at an undisclosed location in South Korea. F-22s and F-35s are both manufactured by Lockheed Martin, one of several companies in the U.S. defense industry to be hit by China's tit-for-tat sanctions on May 22.

Beijing has responded after the U.S. sanctioned Chinese companies alleged to be fueling Russia's war against Ukraine, in a move one analyst told Newsweek signals China's "gloves are coming off."

On May 22, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced sanctions on 10 business executives and a dozen U.S. entities with ties to the defense sector, including Raytheon, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin.

Earlier in May, the Biden administration sanctioned hundreds of firms, including 20 based in China, as part of its crackdown on entities U.S. officials believed were providing materiel to Russia's military-industrial base.

The new sanctions against China, which freeze any China-based assets their targets may have, are largely symbolic given U.S. laws prohibiting the sale of military technology to China and other U.S. adversaries.

"For some time, the U.S. has ignored China's objective and fair position and constructive role in the Ukraine crisis," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said Washington had "indiscriminately imposed illegal unilateral sanctions," "engaged in unilateral bullying and economic coercion," and "seriously infringed" on the rights and interests of the Chinese persons and entities targeted.

The ministry also criticized the U.S. over its continued arms sales to Taiwan, which China views as its territory.

Though the U.S., like most countries, does not officially recognize Taiwan diplomatically, it has committed to contributing to the democratic island's self-defense under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.

Jonathan Ward, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington, D.C., said sanctioning U.S. aerospace and defense firms had become a standard response for China.

"While this may seem meaningless when applied to American defense corporations that do not have business interests in China, Beijing has significantly raised the stakes by now targeting Boeing, which has substantial China sales, and General Dynamics whose subsidiary, Gulfstream Aerospace, also has China operations," he said.

China's new punitive measures come days after it imposed sanctions on three other U.S. firms, including the defense division of the aerospace giant Boeing.

Boeing has the most stake in China with its commercial sales of planes, including the 737 and 777 airliners, though these do not fall under the current suite of Chinese sanctions.

Ward forecasts that as geopolitical tensions continue to rise, Beijing will only pressure foreign companies further to "choose between American national security interests and China's own."

"The gloves are coming off, and Western businesses should understand just how hostile the China market is likely to become in the not-too-distant future," Ward said.

Sunday, China's Commerce Ministry launched an anti-dumping probe against U.S., Japanese, Taiwanese and European Union producers of industrial plastic. The probe followed EU investigations into alleged Chinese dumping and tariffs raised by President Joe Biden on a range of Chinese exports.

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