The United States has warned its allies about China’s growing technological assistance to Russia’s war effort against Ukraine.
As military collaboration between the two countries strengthens, China is providing Russia with geospatial satellite images for military purposes.
Geospatial intelligence integrates data from a network of technologies, from satellites and mobile sensors to ground control stations and aerial imagery. The data is then used to produce real-time maps and simulations to help identify military threats, according to the European Union Satellite Center.
China’s aid also includes support for microelectronics and machine tools for tank production, optics, missile fuels and greater space cooperation, according to sources familiar with the matter interviewed by Bloomberg.
Satellite imagery has played a crucial role for both sides in the Ukraine war.
In October 2022, Russia declared that commercial satellites used by the United States to aid Ukraine in its war against Russia were “legitimate” targets for attack.
Private assets such as Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite terminals and the Maxar and Planet Labs Earth observation satellites have proven key to keeping Ukrainians online.
In recent months, however, Ukraine has criticized Musk for failing to prevent Russia from using Starlink terminals in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.
The “limitless” relationship between Beijing and Moscow
Chinese Prime Minister Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin refers to their mutual relationship in 2022 as a “limitless” friendship.
Trade between the two countries hit a peak of $240 billion in 2023, according to Chinese customs data, as China has become one of Russia’s largest suppliers of goods since Western companies left the country. Russian market after that country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
China has also provided Moscow with access to restricted “dual-use” goods, such as chips and integrated circuits, which can be used to produce weapons.
In return, Russia exported large quantities of oil and coal to its neighbor at reduced prices.
This time last year, China’s ambassador to the European Union, Fu Cong, downplayed the Russian-Chinese partnership in an interview with the New York Times.
Despite China’s refusal to denounce Russian aggression against Ukraine, Fu said at the time that his country was not on Russia’s side in the war, adding that relations between Beijing and Moscow had been “deliberately misinterpreted”.
But China’s support for Russia has only grown in recent months, according to Bloomberg’s sources.
The Financial Times reported this week that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken briefed European allies on the extent of China’s aid to Russia and the need to do more to prevent it. Blinken reportedly asked his allies to raise the issue directly with China.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also warned this week of “significant consequences” if companies, including Chinese ones, provided Russia with support that would help it wage war against Ukraine.
“We have made it clear to China that we view Russia as benefiting from the support of the goods that Chinese companies supply to Russia,” Yellen said on Saturday.
“For their part, China has emphasized that its policy is not to provide military support to Russia – none of us want this to be a problem in our bilateral relations.”
In a recent call, US President Joe Biden expressed his concerns about China’s aid to Russia’s defense sector directly to his Chinese counterpart.
The call between Biden and Xi was the first face-to-face communication between the two leaders since their meeting in California in November last year, when they agreed to “maintain more regular communications.”
businessinsider
