TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — On Friday (July 12), China imposed sanctions on six U.S. defense industry companies and five executives, following the U.S. approval of a major sale of kamikaze drones to Taiwan.
According to Chinese state media, the companies which have been sanctioned include Anduril Industries, Maritime Tactical Systems, Pacific Rim Defense, AEVEX Aerospace, LKD Aerospace, and Summit Technologies Incorporated. Property of these companies in China will be seized and their financial assets frozen, per Coin Market Cap.
Three executives from Anduril Industries, and two executives from another company, AeroVironment, have also been sanctioned. These individuals will be forbidden from entering China or Hong Kong and any Chinese companies or individuals found cooperating with them will be subject to investigation and prosecution.
The individuals sanctioned at Anduril include CEO Brian Schimpf, COO Matthew Grimm, and Senior VP of Global Defense Gregory Kausner. In response to the sanctions announcement, Anduril Systems shared a message on social media that said the company seems to be “doing something right” while pledging they remain committed to “defending democracy across the globe.”
On June 18, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of 720 Switchblade 300 Anti-Personnel and Anti-Armor Loitering Missile Systems, along with 291 ALTIUS 600M-V Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The sale of both arms packages total over US$360 million (NT$11.7 billion).
More recently, on Friday (July 12), a new arms deal valued at US$344 million (NT$11.2 billion) was signed for infrared tracking systems to be equipped on Taiwan’s fleet of F-16s.
