Washington defended arms sales, such as those notified to Congress Friday, as boosting regional security.
“We regret that the Chinese government has announced that it plans to curtail military-to-military and other security-related exchanges and take action against US firms that supply defensive articles to Taiwan,” said PJ Crowley, the State Department’s chief spokesman.
“We believe our policy contributes to stability and security in the region,” he said.
Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, also voiced regret over the Chinese response.
China opposes all US arms sales to Taiwan, which it regards as part of its territory. For the first time, it said it would impose unspecified sanctions on unnamed companies involved in arms sales to Taiwan and scale down contacts with the United States unless it cancelled the new, proposed $6.4 billion arms package.
Among the sales, subject to congressional review, would be Black Hawk utility helicopters built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp.; Lockheed Martin Corp-built and Raytheon Co-integrated Patriot missile defences; and Harpoon land- and sea-attack missiles built by Boeing Co.
Representatives of Sikorsky, Raytheon and Boeing either had no immediate comment or did not respond to questions left for them. A Lockheed spokesman referred a caller to the Defence Security Cooperation Agency, which formally announced the sales plans. An agency representative could not immediately be reached.
Boeing, the No. 1 US exporter, has big commercial interests in China, the world’s most populous market, including commercial aircraft sales. United Technologies also has significant sales in China, where it sells Carrier brand heating and air-conditioning, Otis elevators and escalators and other products.
The other arms makers appear to have more limited exposure to Chinese sanctions.
The dispute deepens rifts between the world’s biggest and third-biggest economies. Although they are cooperating on counter-terrorism, nuclear arms control, climate change and other major security issues, Beijing and Washington are at odds over trade as well as China’s tight control of its currency, dissent in Tibet and the Internet.
Since 1949 when Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan after losing the mainland to Communist rebels, Beijing has demanded Taiwan accept unification, threatening to use force if necessary.
“The United States will shoulder responsibility for the serious repercussions if it does not immediately reverse the mistaken decision to sell weapons to Taiwan,” Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei told US ambassador to China Jon Huntsman in comments reported on the ministry’s website.
China’s Defence Ministry said military exchanges would be put on hold and Beijing postponed vice ministerial-level talks on security, arms control and non-proliferation.
“China will also impose corresponding sanctions on U.S. companies that engage in weapons sales to Taiwan,” the Foreign Ministry said, without naming any companies. A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But Beijing has shown no sign of trying to use its huge pile of US dollar assets to pressure Washington, or impose broader trade penalties — both steps that would undercut China’s own economic strength.
The feud could damage broader diplomacy between the two permanent members of the UN Security Council. Washington has sought China’s backing in its nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea and in fighting climate change, and is preparing for a world summit on nuclear weapons in April.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said in an English-language commentary that the arms sales “will cause seriously negative effects on China-US exchanges and cooperation in important areas, and ultimately will lead to consequences that neither side wishes to see.”
