Chinese companies, including one connected to the government in Beijing, are routing rifles, body armor, and drone equipment to Russian entities.
A Thursday report by Politico, reviewing customs data by ImportGenius, revealed that the shipments took place between June and December 2022. Some of the shipments were routed through NATO ally Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
In June 2022, China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, one of the country’s largest state-owned defense contractors, sent 1,000 CQ-A rifles directly to a Russian company that does business with the Russian state and military. Russian entities also received 12 shipments of Chinese drone equipment, and 12 tons of Chinese body armor, routed through Turkey, in late 2022.
This is the first confirmation that “dual-use” equipment — commercial items that can also be used on the battlefield in Ukraine — is being sent despite promises from at least one Chinese company it would suspend business in Russia and Ukraine to ensure its products did not aid the war effort.
Da-Jiang Innovations Science & Technology Co. sent drone parts in November and December 2022 to a Russian distributor through the United Arab Emirates. The company has already been sanctioned by the U.S. government since 2021 for providing drone equipment to the Chinese government to surveil the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority oppressed by China.
“The challenge with dual-use items is that the export control system we have has to consider both the commercial sales possibilities as well as the military use of certain items,” said Zach Cooper, former assistant to the deputy national security adviser for combatting terrorism at the National Security Council.
These items can therefore be a loophole by which China can provide lethal aid and deny they are doing so at the same time.
Last month, U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken explained China was already providing non-lethal support. He expressed concern it could escalate.
“To date, we have seen Chinese companies…provide non-lethal support to Russia for use in Ukraine. The concern that we have now is based on information we have that they’re considering providing lethal support,” Blinken said, as quoted by the BBC.
The fear is that China will more fully intervene in the conflict, providing arms en masse.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has already relied heavily on navigation equipment, satellite imagery, vehicle components and other raw materials from other countries, including China, to help prop up the flagging Russian invasion.
In January, the U.S. sanctioned another Chinese firm, Spacety China, for allegedly providing satellite imagery of Ukraine to the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group, as reported by the BBC. Senators in the U.S. are considering designating the Wagner Group a foreign terrorist organization.
Also on Thursday, Poland pledged it would send four MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, becoming the first NATO member to do so, as reported by Axios.
A bipartisan group of eight senators, including Senators Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.) and Ted Budd (R., N.C.), called upon the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with fighter jets this week, but it fell upon deaf ears. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a press conference that Poland’s move was a “sovereign decision” that won’t spur President Joe Biden to send F-16 aircraft.