China’s foreign ministry announced sanctions on Friday targeting 10 individuals and 20 U.S. defence firms, including Boeing’s St. Louis branch, over arms sales to Taiwan.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said the United States strongly objected to the Chinese move, which freezes any assets the companies and individuals hold in China and bars domestic organisations and individuals from doing business with them.

Individuals on the Chinese list, including the founder of defence firm Anduril Industries and nine senior executives from the sanctioned firms, are also banned from entering China, it added.

Other companies targeted include Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and L3Harris Maritime Services, and Boeing’s St. Louis branch, which focuses on defense work.

The Chinese action appears largely symbolic given China’s lack of dealings with U.S. defense firms, whereas it has been a major purchaser of Boeing civilian aircraft.

The move follows Washington’s announcement last week of $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest ever U.S. weapons package for the island, drawing Beijing’s ire.

“The Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-U.S. relations,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.

“Any provocative actions that cross the line on the Taiwan issue will be met with a strong response from China,” the statement said, urging the U.S. to cease “dangerous” efforts to arm the island.

China views democratically-governed Taiwan as part of its own territory, a claim Taipei rejects.

The U.S. is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, though such arms sales are a persistent source of friction with China.

The State Department spokesperson said this policy had “remained consistent across nine different U.S. administrations and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

“We strongly object to Beijing’s efforts to retaliate against U.S. companies for their support of U.S. arms sales that support Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” the spokesperson said, while urging Beijing to cease military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taipei.

Boeing has been in talks to sell Chinese carriers up to 500 civilian jets, according to a report in September, which would represent a major breakthrough for the company in the world’s second-largest aviation market, where orders have stalled amid U.S.-China trade tensions.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Joe Bavier, Peter Graff and Alistair Bell)

The FBI officially closed the J. Edgar Hoover Building office in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

Director Kash Patel announced the move after reports over the summer that headquarters would now be relocated to the Ronald Reagan Building.

“After more than 20 years of failed attempts, we finalized a plan to permanently close the FBI’s Hoover headquarters and move the workforce into a safe, modern facility. Working directly with President Trump and Congress, we accomplished what no one else could,” Patel posted to X on Friday.

He also said a plan for a $5 billion, newly built headquarters was scrapped.

“Instead, we selected the already-existing Reagan Building, saving billions and allowing the transition to begin immediately with required safety and infrastructure upgrades already underway. Once complete, most of the HQ FBI workforce will move in, and the rest are continuing in our ongoing push to put more manpower in the field, where they will remain,” he continued, adding that the Hoover Building “will be shut down permanently.”

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In July, General Services Administration Public Buildings Service Commissioner Michael Peters said in a press release for the FBI that the decision to instead move to the Ronald Reagan building, which is only down the block from the Hoover building, would also cut costs on upkeep for the facility.

“This move not only provides a world-class location for the FBI’s public servants, but it also saves Americans billions of dollars on new construction and avoids more than $300 million in deferred maintenance costs at the J. Edgar Hoover facility,” Peters stated in July. “We are proud to partner with Director Patel to drive efficiency and improve the quality of space for a productive workforce in service to national security and taxpayers.”

The closure announcement comes amid other reports about the possible teardown of different federal buildings in the city, such as the Liberty Loan Building, Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, and the GSA Regional Office Building, according to the National News Desk. However, the outlet reported that GSA Associate Administrator for Strategic Communications Marianne Copenhaver denied the accusations as “a manufactured narrative built on speculation.”

At the White House, Trump’s decision to demolish the East Wing and build a ballroom has earned both intense praise and criticism since it was announced in October.