China to adopt countermeasures against US military companies, senior executives for arms sales to Taiwan

China has decided to adopt countermeasures against three U.S. military companies and 10 senior executives for arms sales to China's Taiwan region, according to a decision published on the Chinese Foreign Ministry's official website on Thursday.

The decision said that the United States recently has once again announced arms sales plans to the Taiwan region, which has seriously violated the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, interfered in China's internal affairs and undermined China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Pursuant to Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 15 of China's Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, China has decided to take countermeasures against the following enterprises and executives:

For the three enterprises concerned, namely the Edge Autonomy Operations LLC, Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. and Skydio Inc., their movable, immovable and all other types of property in China will be frozen.

Organizations and individuals in China will be prohibited from engaging in transactions, cooperation or other activities with any of the three enterprises.

For the 10 senior executives, i.e., Steven Roger Rudder, Founder, Stick Rudder Enterprises LLC; James William Ickes II, Vice President, Sierra Nevada Corporation; David Keith Sutton, Asia Director, Lockheed Martin; Yeong-Tae Pak, Vice President, AeroVironment; Patrick Edward Jankowski, Indo-Pacific Project Director, Northrop Grumman; John Purvis, Former CEO, Edge Autonomy Operations LLC; Josh Brungardt, Chief Operating Officer, Edge Autonomy Operations LLC; Christopher Douglas Kastner, President and CEO, Huntington Ingalls Industries; Adam Bry, Co-Founder and CEO, Skydio Inc.; and Tom Moss, General Manager, Skydio Inc.:

Their movable and immovable properties, and other kinds of assets within China will be frozen.

All organizations and individuals within China will be prohibited from engaging in transaction, cooperation and other activities with any of them.

They will also be denied visas or entry into China (including Hong Kong and Macao).

This decision will come into force from Oct 10, 2024.

The three China-U.S. Joint Communiqués, namely the 1972 communiqué (the Shanghai communiqué), the 1979 communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations, and the 1982 communiqué, provide a crucial basis for the development of China-U.S. relations.

In particular, the August 17, 1982 communiqué focuses on a step-by-step approach with the ultimate aim of resolving the issue of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. The United States declared that its arms sales to Taiwan would not exceed, either in qualitative or in quantitative terms, the level of those supplied in the years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China, and that it intended to reduce gradually its sales of arms to Taiwan, leading over a period of time to a final resolution.

In all three communiqués the United States emphasize its acceptance of the one-China principle, which provides political basis for healthy development of China-U.S. relations.

China to adopt countermeasures against US military companies, senior executives for arms sales to Taiwan

The German government is expecting the economy to shrink by 0.2 percent this year, revising its previous forecast of 0.3 percent growth, Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economics Robert Habeck said on Wednesday.

Habeck said Germany has made progresses in tackling short-term factors that hindered economic output, such as high inflation, high interest rates, and high energy costs.

However, long-term structural issues, including a significant shortage of skilled labor and inadequate infrastructure investment, continued to impede growth, according to Habeck.

The German economy shrank 0.1 percent in the second quarter this year, following an increase of 0.2 percent in the first quarter. It was previously estimated that the momentum of economic recovery could pick up in the second half of this year.

The estimation has failed to materialize according to the monthly report about the economy published by the German Central Bank, Bundesbank, last month.

Weak domestic demand played a leading role in dragging down the recovery. While high financing costs dampened demand for industrial goods and production plans, private consumption remained weak as consumers chose to save more despite the rise of real income, according to the report.

New orders in the manufacturing sector went down by 5.8 percent in August, compared to the previous month, provisional figures published by the Federal Statistical Office showed on Monday.

Business sentiment among German companies remains gloomy. The ifo Business Climate Index, an indicator of business confidence in Germany, plunged to 85.4 points in September, the fourth decline in a row.

Germany's economy shrank by 0.3 percent in 2023.

Germany's economy set to contract in 2024