An MQ9 Predator drone is displayed at the Berlin Air Show ILA in Berlin, Germany, on May 30, 2016. China on Thursday, April 11, 2024 announced sanctions against two U.S. defense companies, one of which produces the Predator drone, over what it says is their support for arms sales to Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy Beijing claims as its own territory to be recovered by force if necessary.
The company helps make the Abrams tank being purchased by Taiwan to replace outdated armor intended to deter or resist an invasion from China. Sanctions were leveled under Beijing’s recently enacted Law of the People’s Republic of China on Countering Foreign Sanctions.