US ‘concerned’ private Chinese companies could give military aid to Russia
Mike Brest
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The U.S. has not seen any indication that the Chinese government has chosen to provide lethal aid to Russia for their use in Ukraine, though there is concern that Chinese companies may be doing so.
U.S. officials have warned since February that the Chinese Communist Party was contemplating such a move, which prompted a strong response from the Biden administration.
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“What we are concerned about is private companies in China that may be providing assistance, in some cases dual use, in some cases clearly directed at enhancing Russia’s military capacity in Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday at a press conference in Beijing. “That is a concern, and it’s something that I pointed out to our Chinese counterparts and urged that they be vigilant in policing that.”
He did not elaborate, though he reiterated that the U.S. has not seen intelligence to indicate China was going to provide lethal aid to Russia.
“With regard to assurances on providing lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine, this is not — this is not new today,” the secretary said. “This is something that China has said in recent weeks and has repeatedly said — not only to us, but to many other countries that have raised this concern — that they are not and will not provide lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine. And that’s an important commitment, an important policy.”
Blinken’s comments came as he concluded a brief but significant trip to Beijing, where he met with his Chinese counterpart and President Xi Jinping. His trip, which was initially scheduled for February, came at a time when Beijing-Washington relations were at a place of “instability,” Blinken said.
Beijing refused to establish a crisis communications challenge with U.S. military officials, Blinken added, despite continued U.S. warnings that their silence raises the possibility of “an unintentional conflict” between the powers.
Chinese companies reportedly sent Russian entities a thousand assault rifles and other equipment that could be used for military purposes from June through December of last year, Politico reported in mid-March. The companies also provided Russian entities with a dozen shipments of drone parts and over 12 tons of Chinese body armor. It’s unknown if any of the rifles have made it to the battlefield.
“I know there’s some press reports out there talking about some trade deals,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said, responding to the report at the time. “That in and of itself is not unusual. China and Russia share a trade relationship. But the key point being is that as of right now, we’ve not seen any legal assistance transferring from China to Russia for use on the battlefield in Ukraine.”
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Russia has received military aid from North Korea, South Africa, and, most significantly, Iran. Tehran and Moscow have developed a much stronger military partnership, with both sides agreeing to strengthen the other’s weaknesses. For Russia, they benefit from Iran’s unmanned drones, and the U.S. warned earlier this month that Russia’s manufacturing plant could be operational by early next year, whereas Iran has gotten unprecedented defense cooperation on everything from missiles, electronics, and air defense.
“We are also concerned that Russia is working with Iran to produce Iranian UAVs from inside Russia. We have information that Russia is receiving materials from Iran needed to build a UAV manufacturing plant inside Russia,” National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told the Washington Examiner earlier this month. “This plant could be fully operational early next year.”