China to impose sanctions on US companies selling arms to Taiwan

Beijing will impose sanctions on the US companies involved in arms sales worth USD 2.2 billion to Taiwan, China's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"The US arms sales to Taiwan constitute a serious violation of international law and the basic norms governing international relations," the spokesperson for Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang said in a statement, as cited by Sputnik.

"To safeguard our national interests, China will impose sanctions on the US enterprises involved in the above-mentioned arms sales to Taiwan", Geng said, as quoted on the Chinese Foreign Ministry's website," the statement added.

The US Department of State on Monday (local time) approved the sale of arms amounting to around USD 2.2 billion to Taiwan, according to the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) had requested to buy 250 MANPAD Stinger missiles and other related equipment, along with 100 M1A2T Abrams tanks, which the State Department has approved, the agency added.

China considers Taiwan to be a part of its territory even though the island has been de facto independent from the mainland since 1949's civil war. Beijing has previously criticised the arms sale, adding that Taiwan is part of its internal affairs.