The United States is the first country to penalise Chinese firms for providing Russia with complete military systems for its war in Ukraine. The penalties target two drone suppliers located in China and their purported Russian collaborators.
Beijing disputes accusations made by Washington for a long time that China is aiding Russia’s war effort by providing dual-use products and parts that may be used to make weapons. However, the US Treasury Department charged in a statement released on Thursday that the Chinese companies were directly involved in providing Moscow with armaments.For the first time, the US has punished Chinese businesses for giving Russia whole weaponry systems in exchange for Russia’s conflict in Ukraine. The US has placed penalties on two Chinese drone providers as well as their purported Russian allies.
The Chinese companies had collaborated with Russian defense firms in the production of Moscow’s “Garpiya series” long-range unmanned aerial vehicles, the department said in a statement. The drones were designed, developed and made in China before being sent to Russia for use in the battlefield, it said.
“The Garpiya has been deployed by Russia in its brutal war against Ukraine, destroying critical infrastructure and causing mass casualties,” it said. “While the United States previously imposed sanctions on (Chinese) entities providing critical inputs to Russia’s military-industrial base, these are the first U.S. sanctions imposed on (Chinese) entities directly developing and producing complete weapons systems in partnership with Russian firms.”
The US accused the other sanctioned Chinese company, Redlepus Vector Industry Shenzhen Co., of working with a Russian defense firm to facilitate the shipment of the drones to Russia.
The Treasury Department said Redlepus had also sent shipments to Russia of components that can be used in drones, including aircraft engines, parts of automatic data processing machines and electrical components through Russian defense firm TSK Vektor. Redlepus hung up the phone when CNN called for comment.
The US also imposed punitive measures on the owner of TSK Vektor, a Russian national, and another company he owns. The US previously sanctioned TSK Vektor last December for helping Russia to acquire attack drones. “We have seen for some time Chinese companies providing components to Russian companies that Russian companies then use to turn into machinery, weapons, other components that Russia could use in its war,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Thursday.
“This was the first time we actually saw a Chinese company manufacturing a weapon itself that then was used on the battlefield by Russia.” China’s support for Russia as the Kremlin wages war in Ukraine has become a key point of tension between Washington and Beijing as they seek to stabilize rocky relations.
Beijing has claimed neutrality in the more than two-and-a-half-year long conflict even as it has deepened political, economic and military ties with Moscow. China has become Russia’s top trade partner, offering a crucial lifeline to its heavily sanctioned economy, and the two nuclear-armed neighbors have ramped up joint military exercises in recent months.
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