Politico Europe reported that China is shipping enough military equipment and technology to Russia to fund an army and have a substantial impact on the Ukraine war.
Politico Europe said, “China sends enough nonlethal, but militarily useful equipment to Russia to have a material impact on the war in Ukraine, evidence shows. It also exposes a China-sized loophole in Western sanctions.”
According to Politico Europe, continued shipments of considerable size from China to Russian buyers highlight a significant loophole in the West's efforts to limit Putin's military capabilities.
The trade of dual-use technology, which can be employed for both civilian and military purposes, provides ample deniability for Western authorities who may be hesitant to confront a formidable economic force like Beijing.
The article said that over 60 percent of imported critical components in Russian weapons which are found on battlefields of the Ukraine conflict came from U.S. companies.
Although Ukraine is a customer of China as well, this year alone, Russia's imports of drones from China surpassed $100 million, a staggering 30 times more than what Ukraine imported.
Moreover, Chinese exports of ceramics, a crucial component used in body armor, surged by 69 percent to Russia, reaching over $225 million, while simultaneously plummeting by 61 percent to Ukraine, amounting to a mere $5 million, according to customs data from both countries.
Helena Legarda, a lead analyst specializing in Chinese defense and foreign policy at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, a think tank in Berlin, said, “What is very clear is that China, for all its claims that it is a neutral actor, is in fact supporting Russia’s positions in this war.”
However, China continues to toe the line and has yet to sell Russian weapons or explicit military equipment, allowing leaders in the West to turn a blind eye to these deals.
According to Politico Europe, Maxim Mironov, a sanctions expert and assistant professor of finance at the IE Business School in Madrid, said that despite calls to sanction China, he does not believe politicians have the willpower to actually enact such sanctions.
He said, “China signals: 'You can try, but I don’t care what you are trying to do.' And the European Union is like 'If you don’t like it, we are not going to do it.' And if the Chinese see that, they are just going to continue doing what they think is in their best interest.”
