U.S. firms sanctioned for Taiwan arms sales

China has taken countermeasures by sanctioning six United States defense-related companies and five senior executives after the U.S. recently announced another arms sale to China's Taiwan region.

The six companies targeted by Beijing's countermeasures, which came into effect as of Friday, are Anduril Industries, Maritime Tactical Systems, Pacific Rim Defense, AEVEX Aerospace, LKD Aerospace and Summit Technologies Inc.

These companies' movable and immovable properties, as well as other kinds of assets within China, will be frozen, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The five senior executives include three from Anduril Industries. They are CEO Brian Schimpf, Chief Operating Officer Matthew Grimm and Senior Vice-President of Global Defense Gregory Kausner.

The other two are from AeroVironment. They are Wahid Nawabi, chairman, president and CEO of the company, and Kevin McDonnell, senior vice-president and CFO.

These executive's movable and immovable properties, as well as other types of assets within China, will be frozen. All organizations and individuals within China are prohibited from engaging in transactions, cooperation and other activities with them.

Also, the five senior executives will be denied visas or entry into China, including Hong Kong and Macao. The countermeasures come less than a month after China sanctioned entities and senior executives of Lockheed Martin for the same reason.

China has on many occasions voiced its firm opposition to the U.S. selling arms to the Taiwan region, saying such moves are serious violations of the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques.