Mainland China has slapped sanctions on 13 US defence companies, along with executives of other firms, over arms sales to Taiwan.

The sanctions list includes drone and artificial intelligence companies, according to a statement released by mainland China’s foreign ministry on Thursday.

Beijing will also impose sanctions on Barbara Borgonovi and Gerard Hueber, president and vice-president of naval power at Raytheon Technologies, a major US defence company previously sanctioned by China.

Lin Jian, a ministry spokesman, said the sanctions were a countermeasure for the “repeated announcement of arms sales to Taiwan”, which seriously violated the one-China policy.

“We urge the United States to clearly recognise the serious danger that separatist acts of Taiwan independence pose to peace and security across the Taiwan Strait … and to stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan separatist forces,” he told reporters at a regular press conference.

The announcement came on the same day that Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te transited through Guam, a US territory and home to a key military base, after a stop in Hawaii this week.