A US official on Wednesday (October 28th) downplayed the risk that Beijing would follow through on threats to sanction US defense groups that sell arms to Taiwan.
"This is not the first time Beijing has threatened US companies with sanctions,"
said Clarke Cooper, State Department defense chief Clarke Cooper.
"There have been threats and there have been provocations about it," he
told some journalists.
Read also: Taiwan, this fault line between China and America
China announced Monday that it would take sanctions against Lockheed Martin and the defense division of Boeing making missiles that Washington has decided to sell to Taiwan, territory Beijing considers one of its provinces.
Washington severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979 to recognize Beijing, but the United States passed a law that same year that said it must help Taiwan defend itself in the event of conflict.
Since then, Washington has remained the island's most powerful ally and its number one arms supplier.
Read also: China shows its muscles against Taiwan
Beijing threatens to use force in the event of a formal proclamation of independence or external intervention, and the United States wants to give the island a credible defense capacity against a potential invasion of the Chinese army.
"The security of Taiwan is essential to the stability of the Indo-Pacific region,"
added Clarke Cooper, recalling that China has always known that Washington would continue to sell arms to the island.
Accusing China of using intimidation tactics, he concluded that
"it is they, the provocateurs, not Taiwan that seeks to ensure its self-defense
.
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