Beijing, Dec 8: China on Tuesday lashed out at the US over new sanctions against Chinese officials and the sale of more military equipment to Taiwan.
The US actions are part of what critics see as an effort by the Trump administration to put in place high-pressure tactics toward Beijing that could make it more difficult for President-elect Joe Biden to steady relations.
The Cabinet’s office for Hong Kong affairs expressed “strong outrage and condemnation” over the sanctions levelled against 14 members of the standing committee of China’s legislature, which passed a sweeping Hong Kong National Security Law earlier this year. Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, meanwhile, demanded the U.S. cancel its latest arms sale to Taiwan and said China would make a “proper and necessary response.”
The State Department on Monday said it added 14 members of the Chinese legislature’s standing committee to the list of officials banned from traveling to the U.S. or having access to the U.S. financial system over the crackdown on civil rights in Hong Kong.
It also announced the approval of a $280 million sale of advanced military communications equipment to Taiwan. President Donald Trump’s administration has incensed Beijing with 11 separate arms sales and closer military and political ties with the self-governing island democracy that Beijing claims as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary.
China has stepped up military flights near the island and pledged to punish U.S. companies involved in the arms deals in response. Taiwan’s government welcomed the announcement, saying it showed Washington was honoring its commitment to help strengthen the island’s defenses.
“Taiwan has been at the receiving end of such military threats on a daily basis,” President Tsai Ing-wen told reporters Tuesday.
“Only through engagement and by working together can we tackle the threats and challenges that beset our region and the world.”
The U.S. earlier imposed sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials over the passage of the National Security Law, which is seen as rolling back civil liberties in the territory, as well as over abuses against Muslim minority groups in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. (AP)
