Chinese companies, including at least one linked to the Chinese Communist Party, have been sending assault rifles, drone parts and body armies to Russia, according to a new report.
Data obtained by Politico shows these shipments to Russia occurred between June and December 2022, well after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is looking to Afghanistan to expand China’s growing economic interests. (Photo by Thomas Peter/ Portal)
According to customs data, the state-owned armaments company China North Industries Group Corporation Limited sent CQ-A rifles to the Russian company Tekhkrim in June 2022. Although these rifles were marked as “civilian hunting rifles,” they were said to have been used by Chinese paramilitary police.
The data also showed that Chinese companies had sent 12 shipments of drone parts and more than 12 tons of body armor to Russian companies.
Pentagon says it’s “highly unlikely” that Russia will find anything useful when it retrieves a US drone from the Black Sea
Customs data does not make it clear that Beijing is shipping these items to Russia specifically in support of its war effort in Ukraine, as this equipment can be labeled as “dual-use.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the US State Department for comment on the latest developments.
FILE: Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk to each other during their meeting in Beijing, China, February 4, 2022. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
The report comes after officials said last month the US was “confident” China was considering providing lethal aid to Russia to support Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
The US and its NATO allies have repeatedly warned that any nation – including China – will face swift and severe economic sanctions if they are found to support Russia’s war effort.
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Beijing is struggling to strike a balance between maintaining constructive relations with the West while condemning the US for “hysteria,” as Beijing did in launching the surveillance balloon, and accusing it of fueling the war by providing defense aid to Ukraine to have escalated.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.