China sanctions US companies, warns of red lines on Taiwan

China has warned of a red line after Taiwan's leader spoke by phone with US House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Taiwan's presidential office spokeswoman Guo Ya-hui said on December 5 that leader Lai Ching-teh had a phone call with US House Speaker Mike Johnson. Guo did not disclose the content of the call.

Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te (center) attends a video conference while in the US island of Guam on December 4.

Reuters quoted a source as saying that the call took place on the afternoon of December 4, US time, while Mr. Lai was on a visit to Pacific countries. While in transit in Hawaii (USA), Mr. Lai also had a 20-minute call with former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and discussed China's military threats.

In 2022, China conducted military exercises around Taiwan when Pelosi visited the island while in office.

Commenting on the phone calls, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said: "I would like to stress once again that the Taiwan issue is at the core of China's core interests and the first red line cannot be crossed in China-US relations. China will take resolute and forceful measures to firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity." Lin called on the US to stop interfering in China's internal affairs and stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan separatist forces.

China retaliates because the US restricts chip exports

On the same day, China imposed sanctions on 13 US military companies in response to arms sales to Taiwan. These companies include Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc, BRINC Drones Inc, Shield AI Inc, Rapid Flight LLC, Red Six Solutions, SYNEXXUS Inc, Firestorm Labs Inc, Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems Inc, HavocAI, Neros Technologies, Cyberlux Corporation, Domo Tactical Communications and Group W.

In addition, the country will freeze the assets in China of six executives of five US companies and ban them from entering the country. The ban was issued after China strongly protested the US recently approved a contract to sell spare parts and support for F-16 fighters and radar to Taiwan worth 385 million USD.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/trung-quoc-trung-phat-cong-ty-my-canh-bao-lan-ranh-do-ve-dai-loan-185241205170048861.htm