In First, US Alleges China Directly Supporting Russia’s ‘War Machine’ 

Throughout most of the Russia-Ukraine war, Washington’s constant complaint has been that China has ramped up supplies of dual use items and technologies which aid Russia’s defense manufacturing sector. 

It was only in August that the Bident administration rolled out its latest sanctions aimed at disrupting the China-Russia transfers, which have included semiconductor chips, machine tools, microelectronics, navigation equipment, jet parts, ball bearings, and more. Those sanctions impacted over 400 entities and individuals, with many being Chinese companies.

As expected, China had blasted the “typical unilateral sanctions” from the US, warning that this only serves to disrupt global trade orders and destabilize global supply chains. “China urges the U.S. to immediately stop its wrong practices and will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interest of Chinese companies,” a foreign ministry statement said last month.

But this week Washington has gone further in its accusations, for the first time accusing China of providing direct support for Russia’s “war machine”.

Image source: Global Times/cnsphoto

Now, the charge has gone from indirect to direct Chinese support. The fresh allegations were first reported by the Financial Times:

US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell told reporters in Brussels that China was supplying Moscow with items that were directly helping the Russian military as it prosecutes its war of aggression in Ukraine. Campbell’s comments after a visit to Nato headquarters in the Belgian capital marked a new assessment by US officials of the extent of China’s direct military support for Russia. 

“These are not dual-use capabilities,” Campbell said on Tuesday. “These are component pieces of a very substantial effort on the part of China to help sustain, build and diversify various elements of the Russian war machine.”

Yet one of FT’s sources acknowledge that as yet there is no “clear evidence” of these “very concerning” charges. The Biden administration is said to be scrutinizing potential evidence, however.

As for nailing down specifics of the types of items and aid the US finds so concerning, Campbell has highlighted the exchange of technologies and know-how related to developing submarine, aeronautic, and missile technologies. This would have a “negative and concerning impact” on American security and that of its allies.

“These new areas of collaboration between Russia and China are in the areas of design and . . . application. They are significant,” Campbell said. This China-Russia partnership in the area of military technology would have “very significant impact on Chinese capabilities and deployments in the western Pacific.” This is in reference to the Russians apparently helping the Chinese further advance their submarine and ship capabilities.

The US deputy secretary of state further described that this collaboration has been “orchestrated at the highest levels” in Moscow and Beijing, and that this doesn’t merely mark a “tactical alliance” but instead “this is a fundamental alignment.”

These heightened accusations against China and Russia were accompanied by new warnings and threats from Blinken this week:

Our purpose has been to make the Ukrainians as effective as possible in warding off the Russian aggression. Putin will continue to know a strategic failure in Ukraine. Anyone who is providing assistance to Russia is perpetuating the war. pic.twitter.com/6fmB1DMkMs

— Department of State (@StateDept) September 10, 2024

In the backdrop Russian and Chinese naval and aerial forces are planning a series of drills in Pacific waters, focused especially in the Sea of Japan, for later this month. The reality however, is that as these regional giants continue their “unlimited” friendship and partnership, Washington can do nothing but sit back and seek to ‘manage’ its relations with China. In many ways all of this is but more blowback from round after round of US sanctions and punitive actions aimed at both.