Beijing is “picking a side” and can’t claim to be neutral any more, the US ambassador to NATO tells POLITICO.
China is helping Russia meet its war goals in Ukraine by continuing to sell supplies such as drone technology and gunpowder ingredients to Moscow, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO said in an interview.
“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] cannot claim to be entirely neutral in this case, [and] they are in fact picking a side,” Julianne Smith told POLITICO on Tuesday. “I think when the PRC tries to portray itself as neutral, when it comes to this war, we don’t buy it.”
Smith said the United States was “increasingly seeing materiel support” from China to Russia, adding that this equipment — which can have both civilian and military uses — had played a critical role in helping Moscow achieve some of its aims against Ukraine.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
BRUSSELS — China is helping Russia meet its war goals in Ukraine by continuing to sell supplies such as drone technology and gunpowder ingredients to Moscow, the U.S.
“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] cannot claim to be entirely neutral in this case, [and] they are in fact picking a side,” Julianne Smith told POLITICO on Tuesday.
Smith said the United States was “increasingly seeing materiel support” from China to Russia, adding that this equipment — which can have both civilian and military uses — had played a critical role in helping Moscow achieve some of its aims against Ukraine.
She outlined the kind of support that Beijing had been giving Moscow, including “machine tools, microelectronics, UAV technologies and nitrocellulose that is used as a propellant.”
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), more commonly known as drones, have played a significant role in the war for both sides, while China’s massive output of nitrocellulose — a key ingredient for making gunpowder — is a concern for Europe’s own defense industry.
Beijing insists that it’s not a “party” to the war — and defends what it calls “normal trading relationships” with Moscow while accusing the U.S. of actively sending arms to Ukraine.
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