China supports Russia in massive military expansion, US says | China

China is helping Russia undertake its biggest military expansion since Soviet times, increasing its sales of machine tools, microelectronics and other technologies that Moscow uses to produce missiles, tanks, planes and other weapons for its war against Ukraine, according to a US assessment.

U.S. officials hope the release of the intelligence will encourage European allies to pressure China, as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits Beijing this weekend and G7 foreign ministers meet next week in Italy.

In announcing the U.S. findings, officials said China was helping Russia produce drones, space capabilities and machine tool exports critical to ballistic missile production.

China has been the key factor in revitalizing Russia's defense industrial base, which had otherwise suffered significant setbacks since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a senior U.S. official told reporters under covered by anonymity.

Russia is undertaking its most ambitious defense expansion since the Soviet era and at a faster pace than we thought possible at the start of this conflict, the official said.

We believe that one of the most revolutionary measures we currently have to support Ukraine is to persuade the PRC. [Peoples Republic of China] stop helping Russia rebuild its military-industrial base, the official said.

Russia would struggle to maintain its war effort without the PRC's contribution, he said.

US officials said China supplied more than 70% of the $900 million (723 million) worth of machine tools likely used to build ballistic missiles imported in the final quarter of 2023 by Russia.

They also said that 90% of Russia's imports of microelectronics used to produce missiles, tanks and planes came from China last year.

The United States has repeatedly warned China against supporting Russia, and Chinese and U.S. officials say Beijing has not directly supplied weapons to Russia, which has turned to South Korea. North and Iran, heavily sanctioned, to replenish its arms supply.

U.S. officials believe that China, worried after its Russian allies' initial setbacks on the battlefield, has instead focused on sending equipment apparently intended for nonmilitary uses.

President Joe Biden's administration hopes European powers can make a difference with China, which faces economic difficulties and is susceptible to trade pressures.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to highlight ties between China and Russia when he meets with senior diplomats from other industrial democracies during the G7 negotiations in Capri, Italy.

Blinken is also planning a visit in the coming weeks to China, on the heels of a trip by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

The administration hopes such dialogue, including a recent phone call between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, can help contain tensions between the world's two largest economies, but U.S. officials have stressed they will continue to voice their concerns.

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said this week that the stability of Europe has historically been the United States' primary interest and that it would hold China accountable if Russia makes gains.

Also Friday, the United States and the United Kingdom banned metals trading exchanges from accepting new Russian-produced aluminum, copper and nickel and banned the import of those metals in the latest effort to disrupt Russian export revenues.

The U.S. Treasury Department said Friday's action would prohibit the London Metal Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange from accepting new Russian production of aluminum, copper and nickel.

Metals exchanges play a central role in facilitating the trade of industrial metals around the world, the Treasury Department said in a statement.