China Sanctions Six US Companies, Citing Taiwan Dealings

US Ambassador to China David Perdue said Tuesday that a highly anticipated near-future meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping is expected to happen next year. “We’re looking forward to getting together, as President Trump said, and potentially in the near future, but certainly next year,” Perdue said.

But despite this attempted thaw, and despite last week’s generally positive call between the leaders, ongoing tensions and strain clearly remains as China on Thursday announced sanctions on six American companies.

Three of the US companies have been newly deemed part of China’s “unreliable entity list” - effectively banning them from trade with China, while the three other companies were added to China’s export control list. This means they can’t receive items which could have ‘dual use’ applications, in the military and civilian spheres.

The actions have spotlighted ongoing Washington assistance to Taiwan, as China’s Commerce Ministry highlighted the US companies have “engaged in so-called military-technical cooperation with Taiwan, severely undermining China’s national sovereignty, security and development interests.”

The US has already long banned a number of Chinese tech firms based on similar arguments about dangers posted to national security. The impacted companies from China’s fresh punitive measures are as follows:

• unmanned vehicle maker Saronic Technologies
• satellite technology company Aerkomm
• subsea engineering firm Oceaneering International.
• military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries
• engineering and facilities manager Planate Management Group
• intelligence firm Global Dimensions.

Some among these were specifically accusing of endangering China’s national security and interests, per the Commerce Ministry’s statement.

Recent reports have said President Trump paused a planned $400 million weapons aid package for Taiwan, which has fueled fears among anti-China hawks that he is using US support of the island to negotiate with China. But as the Washington Post noted on Friday, the decisions can still be reversed at any time.

Taiwan’s economy remains caught in a trade tug-of-war involving Washington and Beijing, and the self-ruled island is also in the news Thursday for the following:

American customs officials said on Wednesday that the United States would begin barring imports of bicycles manufactured in Taiwan by Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd., saying that they had uncovered information indicating that the company was using forced labor.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that it would begin detaining bicycles, bicycle parts and accessories manufactured in Taiwan by Giant effective immediately under what is known as a “withhold release order.”

Giant, as the world’s biggest bike manufacturer, has five factories in China and one in Taiwan, and its bikes are commonly found in huge chain stores like Wal-Mart.