Defense tech company head calls for turning Taiwan into a 'prickly porcupine that nobody wants to step on'
Anduril founder among 10 executives barred from entering China after $10B+ weapons package announced
Anduril founder Palmer Luckey addresses the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, being sanctioned by China over arm sales to Taiwan and more on 'The Claman Countdown.'
A U.S. defense tech company executive who has been personally sanctioned by China over his company's arm sales to Taiwan says he wears the ban as a badge of honor.
"It’s an award I’m very, very proud to win," Anduril founder Palmer Luckey told FOX Business anchor Liz Claman from CES 2026 in Las Vegas Wednesday.
Just one week after Washington announced an arms-sale package valued at more than $10 billion to Taiwan, Beijing imposed sanctions on 20 U.S. defense companies and 10 senior executives, including Luckey.
The Chinese foreign defense ministry warned the U.S. against the "dangerous moves of arming Taiwan" in a Dec. 26 statement.
"We stress once again that the Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed in China－U.S. relations," the ministry said. "Any company or individual who engages in arms sales to Taiwan will pay the price for the wrongdoing."
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Luckey is one of 10 executives barred from entering or doing business in China, and his company’s assets in the country have been frozen.
The tech company head seemed to refer to China’s personal sanction against him as a long time coming.
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"Anduril, my company, has been sanctioned for years, actually," Luckey said. "But to finally personally be sanctioned, to be told that all my Chinese assets will be seized, and I can no longer enter China or any of their states that they've taken over, I'm actually very, I’m very proud of that."
The Altius-600 autonomous UAS at Anduril's headquarters in Costa Mesa, California, US, on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The U.S. has realized it cannot afford "business as usual" when it comes to China’s aggression toward Taiwan and others, Luckey argued.
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"We need to accelerate the process of turning [Taiwan] into a prickly porcupine that nobody wants to step on, nobody wants to eat," he said.
Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, during an interview at Anduril's headquarters in 2023. (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
When Claman asked the entrepreneur what weaponry he is selling to Taiwan, he described a variety of land, air and maritime defense systems.
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Most of Anduril’s designs are made to "go after" China more than Venezuela, he added.
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"And I think that's why you didn't see the — you didn't much Anduril stuff in Venezuela. But if anything ever goes — if anyone ever goes toe-to-toe with China — you're going to see a lot of Anduril’s stuff in the mix."
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