Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/china-taiwan-us-arms-sales-180b0a676b8e785ffbee470a64326f4c
China has recently enforced sanctions on American companies who are selling weapons to Taiwan, a self-governed island off the coast of mainland China, which China claims as their own territory. Fighter jets, tanks, and missiles are to be delivered to Taiwan from the U.S. which prompted China State Media to make the announcement. The U.S. has ensured the island can defend itself as the Taiwanese grow anxious due to China’s threats on attacking and annexing forcefully. Taiwan itself has been reviving their military and weapon technology. China has demanded before that this collaboration needs to be put to an end, but no apparent effect has been seen.
These sanctions could lead to even more tension between the U.S. and China, which houses two of the world’s largest economies. These tensions could possibly affect shipping routes and trade relations in the future. Seeing that Taiwan has also been militarizing and increasing weapon developments, the country may not be totally relaxed with just the United State’s help- Taiwan is making sure they will not be completely defenseless against China if the U.S. were not able to provide as much aid (perhaps due to tensions with China). Though U.S. is legally bound to assist Taiwan through the Taiwan Relations Act, how many threats from China will the U.S. take until their aid for Taiwan begins to dwindle?
China will most likely continue to be aggressive because they believe they are protecting their sovereignty (and territories) and desire to discourage other countries from supporting Taiwan. The U.S. will probably uphold its commitment to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act in order to carry forward the protection of democratic values in the Indo-Pacific. The companies affected could lose a lot of business in China, but they might advocate for the U.S. government or other countries governments they are involved with to negotiate with China diplomatically. The WTO, an intergovernmental organization (IGO), could step in if the U.S. counters China’s sanctions and escalates the issue.