According to German officials who are aware of the situation, Chinese and Russian companies are working on an attack helicopter related to the one used by Iran in Ukraine, a indication that Beijing may be getting closer to offering the kind of destructive aid that northern officials have warned against.
The companies discussed collaborating in 2023 to create an Iranian-made drone, and they started testing and developing one this year in planning for delivery to Russia, according to the authorities, who asked not to be identified to discuss personal information. The Taiwanese robots have yet to be used in Ukraine, they said.
In spite of repeated warnings from the US and its supporters, giving Russia a Shahed-like strike drone may signal a further expansion of Beijing’s support for Russia. Despite claims that American officials claim that China has provided parts and additional support for President Vladimir Putin’s forces, President Xi Jinping has attempted to portray it as natural in the Ukrainian conflict.
US authorities have also stated that China is halting immediately providing weaponry and artillery, which may indicate an unprecedented increase and almost certainly lead to more severe measures against the second-largest economy of the world, such as sanctions.
According to two of the authorities, some countries believe that providing Russia with drones for use in attacks would be destructive support. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the US believes that China is considering sending fully developed unmanned aerial vehicles but is also sending packages that can be turned into harm drones in the interim. The US also does n’t argue that China is sending destructive aid to Russia, the individual said, while acknowledging that different countries may have a different view.
China does n’t give weapons to the events of the Ukraine conflict and strictly controls imports of dual- use content, Liu Pengyu, the spokeswoman for China’s military in the US, said in a statement.
It is quite obvious to the global community who is calling for dialogue and seeking peace and who is promoting conflict and inciting conflict, Liu said. We ask the appropriate nations to stop igniting conflict and causing it to escalate.
Russia’s defense and foreign ministries did n’t immediately reply to requests for comment.
Since the start of the war, Russia has used hundreds of Shahed drones against Ukraine, perhaps building a factory to mass-produce the Iranian-developed technology, which is fairly inexpensive to build but expensive to protect against.
Russia also relies on China for essential parts and components and North Korea and Iran for products. One concern is that China may create a helicopter similar to the Shahed at a much higher level than Russia or Iran, according to the authorities.
Although the officials did not identify the helicopter under development, a Taiwanese defense website and a number of media outlets reported that China is developing a bomber assault drone called the Sunflower 200, which is alleged to be similar in appearance to the Persian Shahed 136 drone.
In April, Bloomberg News reported that China was providing Russia with satellite pictures for military reasons, nanotechnology and equipment tools for vehicles, as well as a wide range of technologies used in arms or required to produce them.
China makes every effort to refute any claims that it is a negative person in the Ukraine conflict, but in reality the Government is providing a long list of dual-use components, including microelectronics, that are enabling Russia to wage this anger in Ukraine, according to US Ambassador to Nato Julianne Smith, who made reference to China’s People’s Republic of China, in its official title.
” Here inside Nato, we’re making sure that we can point out that the PRC is no longer a neutral player and warn China about the possibility of falling behind Russia in this unprovoked war of aggression,” she said.
When UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps suggested that China was working to provide Russia with lethal aid, he sparked a tuss in May. Jake Sullivan, the US’s national security adviser, claimed that the US has n’t seen China providing weapons directly to Russia to date.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, claimed at the G-7 summit that President Xi had promised to stop giving Russia weapons.
