CHINA is helping Russia undertake its biggest military expansion since Soviet times, United States officials said on Friday, stepping up public pressure as concerns rise about Ukraine.
US officials are hoping the release of the intelligence will encourage European allies to press China, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz headed to Beijing and Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers meet in Italy from April 16 to 19.
Unveiling US findings, officials said China was helping Russia on a range of areas, including the joint production of drones, space-based capabilities and machine-tool exports vital for producing ballistic missiles.
China has been the key factor in revitalising Russia's defence industrial base, "which had otherwise suffered significant setbacks" since Russia's invasion
of Ukraine, a senior US official said.
"Russia is undertaking its most ambitious defence expansion since the Soviet era and on a faster timeline than we believed possible early on in this conflict.
"Our view is that one of the most game-changing moves available to us at this time to support Ukraine is to persuade China to stop helping Russia reconstitute its military industrial base.
"Russia would struggle to sustain its war effort without China's input."
US officials said that China provided more than 70 per cent of the US$900 million in machine tools, likely used to build ballistic missiles, imported in the last quarter of 2023 by Russia.
US officials also said that 90 per cent of Russia's microelectronics imports — used to produce missiles, tanks and aircraft — came from China last year.
The US has repeatedly warned China against supporting Russia, and Chinese and US officials say Beijing has stopped short of directly providing weapons to Russia, which has turned to heavily sanctioned North Korea and Iran to replenish arms supply.
US officials believe that China, anxious after its Russian ally's early setbacks on the battlefield, has instead focused on sending material that ostensibly has non-military uses.
President Joe Biden's administration is hoping that European powers can make the difference in persuading China, which is facing economic headwinds and is sensitive about trade pressure.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to make the case on China's ties with Russia as he meets top diplomats of other industrial democracies at the G7 talks in Capri, Italy.
Blinken is also planning a visit in the coming weeks to China.
The administration hopes that such dialogue, including a recent telephone call between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, can contain tensions between the world's two largest economies, but US officials have stressed they will still press on concerns.
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said last week that Europe's stability was the top interest historically of the US and that it would hold China accountable if Russia makes gains.
Ukraine has suffered its first battlefield setbacks in months as its forces ration ammunition, with the US failing to authorise new support due to a deadlock in the Republican-led House of Representatives.
The writer is from Agence France-Presse