Taiwan arms sale, China pressure OK’d

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Monday approved a new major arms sale to Taiwan and slapped new sanctions on Chinese officials over the crackdown on pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong.

The moves are sure to draw a firm rebuke from China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province and has rejected Hong Kong-related measures as interference in its internal affairs.

The State Department said it had approved a $280 million sale to Taiwan of advanced military communications equipment. Earlier, it said it had hit 14 members of the Chinese parliament’s standing committee with sanctions that come as the administration steps up punitive measures against China as it winds down its time in office.

In a statement, the department said it had approved the communications sale to “help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, economic and progress in the region.”

Also Monday, the State and Treasury departments said they were acting against the 14 members of standing committee to freeze any assets they may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar them and their families from traveling to the United States.

“Beijing’s unrelenting assault against Hong Kong’s democratic processes has gutted its Legislative Council, rendering the body a rubber stamp devoid of meaningful opposition,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that repeated condemnations of China’s violations of the agreement with Britain that returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997.