Did China supply arms to Russia? This question is now getting new explosiveness. Germany and the EU would have to follow the US on sanctions. But hardly anyone seems ready for it.
Bastian Brauns reports from Washington
If it’s really true, then there will be consequences. At least, that’s what even high-ranking members of the German government had repeatedly spread over the past few weeks. Should China really deliver arms to Russia, that would add a whole new dimension to the war in Ukraine, it said. Then sanctions against China would not be ruled out. But the goal is to prevent that from happening.
At the end of February, the question of Chinese arms deliveries had become particularly explosive. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken publicly warned that new information from US intelligence agencies indicated that Chinese companies are not just selling civilian products to Russia that could be used for killing purposes. Blinken’s hints at the time: China could also provide “deadly support” for Russia. Such an escalation would have “serious consequences” for China, he warned.
China moves in the gray area
Research by the US magazine “Politico” may now put the Allies under pressure. Citing trade and customs data, the authors write that Chinese companies are said to have delivered around 1,000 assault rifles, drone parts and bulletproof protective clothing to Russian companies last year. At the same time, the American television channel “CNN” revealed that Ukrainian soldiers shot down a Mugin-5 drone made in China last weekend. The aircraft, which was actually used for civilian purposes, also known as the “Alibaba” drone, had been retrofitted and armed.
Pat Ryder, spokesman for the US Department of Defense, at least did not want to classify these deliveries in the category that would lead to direct consequences before press representatives in Washington on Thursday. He knows about the new press reports. “Until now, however, we have not seen deadly support being transferred from China to Russia for use on the battlefield in Ukraine,” Ryder said.
“Politico” wrote that it was not possible to conclude from the researched data per se whether the weapons were used in the Ukraine war. Despite their deadly effect, the rifles would then pass as so-called “dual-use” products, which are not defined per se as “lethal assistance”, ie as “deadly support” for the Ukraine war. The rifles supplied are marked as “civilian hunting rifles” in the data. According to reports, however, they are to be used by the paramilitary police in China and by the armed forces of the Philippines, South Sudan and Paraguay. It is possibly a loophole that China and Russia know how to exploit.
The “Spiegel” had already reported in February that the Russian military was negotiating with the Chinese drone manufacturer Xi’an Bingo Intelligent Aviation Technology. As a result, kamikaze drones are to be mass-produced for Russia. 100 warhead-capable prototype ZT-180 drones are said to be delivered by April.
A questionable peacemaker
Speaking to T-Online, Liana Fix, security policy expert at the US think tank Council on Foreign Relations, said: “Given the far-reaching implications that any sanctions would have for the EU’s overall China policy, it is clear that the US is providing clear evidence and coordinate with their allies.” Should China really take the step and clearly arm Russia for the war in Ukraine, then the European states would have to take the consequences if they didn’t want to thwart their own support for Ukraine, according to Fix.
The Chinese government is in the process of building a reputation as a peacemaker. Punctually on the anniversary of the Russian invasion, a much-criticized pro-Russian proposal for a peace plan was disseminated. Even a meeting between President Xi Jinping and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now said to be in the planning stage. The research into the arms deliveries should now put a considerable damper on your own request. Even if it’s not about tanks or planes.
