Today, China has set its sights on the US defense industry Lockheed Martin as well as a subsidiary also of the American Raytheon Technologies ( Raytheon Missile Defense Corporation) on the “list of unreliable persons”, thereby excluding the giants in question from imports and exports associated with China.

It is noted that the Chinese leadership set the stage for this move, saying a day earlier that it would take “countermeasures against organizations in the United States that undermine the sovereignty and security of China.”

Lockheed Martin (manufacturer of the F-35 and F-22) and Raytheon Technologies (producer of missiles AIM-9X Sidewinder) are being targeted by the Chinese leadership because, according to China’s official position, they have sold weapons systems to the self-governing island of Taiwan, which China calls Chinese.

However, Beijing does not take this step by chance, against the backdrop of – unjustified and provocative, in the opinion of the Chinese side – the downing of a Chinese balloon found in flight over the United States. It is worth noting that the downing in question was committed on February 4 by an American. F-22 rocket AIM-9X Sidewinder.