China vows sanctions on U.S. firms selling arms to Taiwan

BEIJING — China said Friday that it would impose sanctions on American companies involved in the recently proposed sale of more than $2 billion in arms to Taiwan. The move could further strain ties between the two large powers, whose governments have been targeting each other’s businesses for punishment as a tariff war boils.

Beijing has threatened similar penalties after previous U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan, a self-governing island that China considers a rogue part of its territory. The sanctions promised in those cases have not materialized so far.

But whether and how the Chinese government follows through this time could send a signal about officials’ willingness to inflict damage upon more American firms as the trade fight with Washington stretches into its second year.

“The United States’ arms sales to Taiwan constitute a serious violation of international law and the norms governing international relations,” Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said during a news briefing, without offering specifics on how and when the American companies involved would be penalized.

The United States is required to provide weapons for Taiwan’s defense under a law enacted in 1979, when Washington was shifting diplomatic relations to Beijing and away from Taipei, the island’s capital. China has long viewed U.S. arms sales to Taiwan as an affront to its sovereignty.