The Chinese government announced that they may enact trade sanctions on foreign arms contractors (meaning any U.S. company that sells or distributes arms to Taiwan). This response came shortly after the announcement was made on Friday, February 5, that the United States would be selling Taiwan a $6.4 billion arms package. Boeing is a good example of a company in threat of being sanctioned.
Several reports doubt that China would ever put these sanctions in place. The reason? Boeing products comprise 53 percent of civilian aircraft in China. It seems that China would only be hurting itself because they would be subject to World Trade Organization rules. If successfully challenged, “Beijing could face sanctions against its own exports that would be equivalent in value to the estimated loss of business to US companies.”
The Taiwan dispute is nothing new, but it is integral in foreign relations between China and the United States or any other country that recognizes Taiwan as a state separate from China. Japanese colonization of Taiwan from 1895-1945 sparked a “century of humiliation” that would only end with the reunion of China and Taiwan. Chinese possession of Taiwan is so deeply entrenched in Chinese pride. Any country committing the act of attempting to help Taiwan defend itself is undermining Chinese authority and esteem. Saving face is a large motivator in the Chinese government’s action or inaction, which brings us back to the threat of sanctions.
Ultimately, times are tense for US-China relations and it is unknown if tensions will increase or decrease as this story develops. There is currently such a torrent of news items on US-China relations, that there is no telling what’s next.