US Considering Releasing Intelligence on China-Russia Arms Transfers, Report Says

February 24, 2023 |Other U.S.

The U.S. is considering publicizing intelligence it believes shows China is deciding whether to send weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 22. The discussions within the Biden administration came before Feb. 25 U.N. Security Council meeting and a “number of closed-door appeals” to China coordinated among NATO members, the report said. Other Western countries in recent weeks have also “picked up on” intelligence that China may begin supplying weapons to Russia, but “it appears that China hasn’t yet made a final decision,” the report said.

The White House didn’t comment. Secretary of State Antony Blinken isn't expected to use the U.N. forum to publicly release the intelligence, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Feb. 23. If China aids Russia's "sanctions evasion" efforts, they do so "at their own peril." Price said. "It would come with costs and consequences from the United States, from the international community. We're watching this very closely."

Price said the U.S. has communicated this "directly" with China's leadership, including as recently as last week, adding that Chinese companies have already provided "non-lethal support" to Russia during the last year. "They attempt to maintain this veneer of neutrality, professing to the world that they're not taking a side," Price said, "but they're clearly taking a side."

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said during a regular press conference in Beijing on Feb. 23 that the U.S. is “falsely claiming that China might offer weapons to Russia,” adding that the suggestion is causing “further harm” to U.S.-China relations. “We can easily imagine that the ‘intelligence’ the US referred to is most likely chasing shadows and smearing China,” the spokesperson said, according to the press conference transcript provided in English. “The US needs to work with China and the rest of the world to promote diplomatic negotiations with a view to settling the crisis.”