As per an unclassified US intelligence report issued on Thursday, China is assisting Russia in evading Western sanctions and providing Moscow with military and dual-use technology for use in Ukraine.
The US House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence published the evaluation of the office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
Since Moscow’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, China has frequently denied supplying military equipment to Russia.
According to the ODNI study, the PRC is providing some dual-use technology that Moscow’s military uses to continue the war in Ukraine, despite an international cordon of sanctions and export controls.
“The customs records show PRC state-owned defense companies shipping navigation equipment, jamming technology, and fighter jet parts to sanctioned Russian Government-owned defense companies”, the report reads.
It also stated that China has become an even more critical partner of Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
ODNI stated that China and Russia have expanded the proportion of bilateral trade settled in the Chinese yuan, and both countries’ financial institutions are increasing their use of domestic payment systems.
According to the report, China has increased its imports of Russia’s energy exports, including oil and gas redirected from Europe.
ODNI attributed a lot of the information to media reports. “The Intelligence Community lacks sufficient reporting to assess whether Beijing is intentionally impeding United States Government export control end-use checks, including interviews and investigations, in the PRC”, it continued.
Earlier this month, Emmanuel Bonne, the top diplomatic adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, stated that China was supplying items that could be used as military equipment to Russia, though not on a large scale.
US authorities have previously expressed concerns about transfers of ‘dual-use equipment’ from China to Russia. They have, however, stated repeatedly that they have yet to see evidence of the transfer of lethal support for use on the battlefield by Russia.
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