China is bolstering Russia in its conflict with Ukraine, helping Moscow in its largest military buildup since the USSR by providing drone and missile technology, satellite imagery and machine tools, Reuters reported.
In a small briefing with journalists on Saturday (AEST), a piece of information was also presented that was based on declassified intelligence data. Thus, the data showed how exactly China is helping Russia in the two-year war against Ukraine without providing any lethal assistance.
One official said the Chinese materials were filling critical gaps in Russia’s defence production cycle and helping Moscow undertake its “most ambitious defence expansion since the Soviet era and on a faster timeline than we believed possible earlier on in this conflict.”
Our view is that one of the most game-changing moves available to us at this time to support Ukraine is to persuade the PRC [China] to stop helping Russia reconstitute its military industrial base. Russia would struggle to sustain its war effort without PRC input, according to the official.
The Chinese side, for its part, stated that it had not supplied weapons to either side, adding that it was not “a producer of or party involved in the Ukraine crisis” and that normal trade between China and Russia should not be interfered with or restricted.
“We urge the US side to refrain from disparaging and scapegoating the normal relationship between China and Russia,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the US, said.
Simultaneously, Joe Biden is pressuring Republicans to approve major funding for arms supplies to Ukraine, while the US and its allies are also pushing for more aid in the South China Sea to counter China’s military buildup in the region.
China has voiced impatience with anti-China rhetoric emanating from Joe Biden’s talks this week with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines, prompting a denial from the White House.
The officials also signalled that Russia may have used imported machine tools from China to increase ballistic missile production. They cited Dalian Machine Tool Group, one of the leading machine tool manufacturers, as one of the companies supplying Russia. China has also provided drone engines and turbojet engines for cruise missiles, and Chinese and Russian companies are working on joint drone production in Russia. Military optics produced by Chinese firms iRay Technology and the North China Electro-Optics Research Institute are also part of the supplies to the Russian side.
Therefore, in 2023, 90 per cent of Russia’s microelectronics imports came from China, which Russia used to produce missiles, tanks and aircraft. Chinese companies such as Wuhan Global Sensor Technology Co, Wuhan Tongsheng Technology Co Ltd and Hikvision have supplied Chinese optical components for use in Russian systems including tanks and armoured vehicles.
US officials said Russia is improving its satellite and other space capabilities for use in Ukraine thanks to Chinese assistance, adding that the US has credible information that China is providing Russia with imagery for its war in Ukraine.
