Today, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced sanctions against two U.S. defense industry companies for their arms sales to Taiwan.

In recent weeks, Beijing has invoked the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law and imposed sanctions on U.S. companies and individuals for supporting "Taiwan independence" and Xinjiang-related sanctions. This is one of the few times when the invocation of China's anti-foreign sanctions law has led to concrete measures.

Last Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department added 42 Chinese companies to the Entity List "for providing support to Russia’s military and/or defense industrial base." This came after it added 11 Chinese firms a week earlier.

Last week, Beijing announced that it will sanction two U.S. companies -- Northrop Grumman and a Lockheed Martin unit -- over their arms sales to Taiwan. But experts pointed out that what comes next as part of the sanctions is unclear at the moment.

In reaction to recent reports of a new Huawei smartphone with advanced capabilities, member of Congress are pushing the U.S. Commerce Department to tighten semiconductor export controls even further.

China's Foreign Relations Law entered into force on July 1. The law consolidates China's foreign policy, and provides an additional statutory basis for government action against foreign sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.

After the news broke that the European Commission proposed to sanction multiple Chinese companies over their sales to Russia, several Chinese officials pushed back against this proposal at various events this week, and warned of taking "necessary measures" to protect Chinese firms.