Washington——

According to U.S. assessments, China has significantly increased its sales of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology to Russia, which Moscow uses to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weapons for use in its war against Ukraine.

Two senior Biden administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive findings, said on Friday that about 90% of Russia’s microelectronics in 2023 came from China. Russia has used the materials to build missiles, tanks and aircraft. Of Russia’s approximately US$900 million in machine tool imports in the fourth quarter of 2023, nearly 70% came from China.

Chinese and Russian entities have also been working on jointly producing drones in Russia, with Chinese companies potentially supplying Russia with nitrocellulose used to make ammunition, officials said. Chinese companies Wuhan Global Sensor Technology, Wuhan Tongsheng Technology and Hikvision are supplying optical components for Russian tanks and armored vehicles.

Russia has received military optics for tanks and armored vehicles made by Chinese companies iRay Technology and the North China Institute of Optoelectronics, officials said, and China has been supplying Russia with drone engines and cruise missile turbojet engines.

Russian customs data analyzed by the Free Russia Foundation, an organization that advocates for the development of civil society, shows that Russia’s semiconductor imports from China jumped from US$200 million in 2021 to more than US$500 million in 2022.

Beijing is also working with Russia to improve the satellites and other space-based capabilities it uses in Ukraine, a development that officials say could increase the threat Russia poses across Europe in the long term. Citing downgraded intelligence findings, the officials said the United States also determined that China was providing Russia with images of its war in Ukraine.

Officials discussed the findings and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China this month for talks. Blinken plans to travel to the Italian island of Capri next week for a meeting of G7 foreign ministers, where he is expected to express concern about China’s growing indirect support for Russia as Moscow reorganizes its military and looks to consolidate recent gains in Ukraine. progress.

U.S. President Joe Biden has previously expressed concerns directly to Chinese President Xi Jinping about Beijing’s indirect support for Russia’s war effort.

Although China has not provided direct lethal military support to Russia, it has supported Russia diplomatically, accusing the West of provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to go to war and respecting the Kremlin by not calling it an invasion.

China has repeatedly said it will not provide arms or military aid to Russia, although it maintains strong economic ties with Moscow, India and other countries despite sanctions from Washington and its allies.

Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said: “Normal trade between China and Russia should not be disrupted or restricted. We urge the United States not to denigrate normal relations between China and Russia and find scapegoats for it.”

Xi Jinping met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Beijing on Tuesday, who spoke highly of Xi Jinping’s leadership.

Russia’s growing economic and diplomatic isolation has made it increasingly dependent on China, its former rival for leadership of the communist bloc during the Cold War.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who returned to Washington from a visit to Beijing this week, said she warned Chinese officials that the Biden administration was prepared to impose sanctions on Chinese banks, companies and leaders in Beijing if they aid Russian armed forces in their ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Biden issued an executive order in December authorizing Yellen to sanction financial institutions that aid the Russian military-industrial complex.

“We remain concerned about the role of any company, including Chinese companies, in Russian military procurement,” Yellen told reporters, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China. “I stress that companies, including those from the People’s Republic of China, must not provide material support for Russia’s war effort and they will face severe consequences if they do so. I also stress that any significant transaction providing military or dual-use goods to Russia must Facilitating Banking Russia’s defense industrial base is at risk from U.S. sanctions.”

The United States has regularly downgraded its ratings and released intelligence findings about Russian plans and actions as the war with Ukraine has raged for more than two years.

The efforts focus on highlighting Russia’s misinformation campaign or drawing attention to Moscow’s difficulties in waging war against Ukraine and coordinating with Iran and North Korea to provide it with much-needed weapons. Blinken last year highlighted intelligence showing China was considering providing weapons and ammunition to Russia.

The White House believes that the public release of intelligence findings has caused China, at least for now, to delay directly arming Russia. China’s economy has also been slow to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese officials may be sensitive to the reaction of European governments, which have maintained closer ties with Beijing even as Sino-U.S. relations have become more complicated.