Palmer Luckey—Sanctioned by China over role in arms sales to Taiwan, called it 'an award I'm very proud to win'
On December 26, 2025, China imposed sanctions on Palmer Luckey along with 9 other US defense executives and 20 companies for their role in US arms sales to Taiwan. Luckey is barred from entering China and from conducting business there. Anduril had jointly manufactured the Barracuda 500 autonomous cruise missile with Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute. Luckey publicly celebrated the sanctions, telling Fox Business 'It's an award I'm very, very proud to win.'
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Military & Defense Contracts | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.993 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.66)
Evidence (2 signals)
Luckey told Fox Business he was 'very proud' to be sanctioned by China
Palmer Luckey responded to China's sanctions by telling Fox Business anchor Liz Claman at CES 2026: 'It's an award I'm very, very proud to win.'
Fortune reported China sanctioned Luckey over Taiwan arms sales
Fortune reported that Beijing sanctioned Palmer Luckey and 9 other US defense executives on December 26, 2025, barring them from entering China or conducting business there. The sanctions were in retaliation for a US arms-sale package to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion.