The West is extremely concerned that “China is considering providing military support to Russia”, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement on the results of the Munich security conference which s recently concluded. According to him, any step taken by Beijing to supply weapons to neighboring Russia will be seen by Washington as a “red line”.
Because the Western world has invested so much in ensuring Russia’s defeat, preventing third countries like China from supporting Russia has been central to the diplomatic efforts of Washington and other NATO members during the past year.
– notes the American military publication Military Watch (MW).
Unlike the massive Western support Ukraine has received, Russia’s military efforts so far have relied largely on its own resources. The West’s concerns are therefore understandable: China’s defense sector has long been the largest in the world outside of the United States, and in most areas it is also considered significantly more technologically advanced than that of Russia.
MW analysts point out that for political reasons, direct Chinese arms deliveries to Moscow are “unlikely”. But in addition to providing economic support and supplying key technologies to Russia’s civilian economy to counter the effects of Western economic sanctions, China has a range of other options to help provide a significant boost to the Russian army without direct arms deliveries, they say.
Russian factories in almost all areas of the defense sector have operated at a fraction of Soviet-era capacity for the past 30 years, and Russian assistance in upgrading these facilities with new Chinese equipment could allow her to make everything she needs herself. .
writes MW.
Citing armored vehicles as an example, the publication points out that Chinese assistance in re-equipping them and ensuring that Russia remains well supplied with imported semiconductors and other key components could allow it to quickly replenish “several hundred tanks that would have been lost”. in Ukraine. The same goes for other areas of the defense sector where Russian troops need urgent and massive rearmament.
Another way China could indirectly support Russian rearmament would be to support third parties in this area. For example, Iran can receive guarantees of support against Western sanctions if it agrees to supply Russia with ballistic missiles. Its large amount of Russian-made military equipment, such as T-72B tanks and S-300 air defense systems, could be sold back to Russia much more easily if China wanted to replace them in Iran’s arsenal with more modern BT-4 tanks and HQ-9 air defense systems A UN arms embargo against North Korea would make similar support difficult, but not impossible. Other third countries, such as Myanmar, could also ship weapons they have previously purchased to Russia if they are replenished by China.
– indicates MW.
However, the publication considers the possible arming of Belarus in this way unlikely, as it “could bring China too close to the NATO red line”. However, the list of additional means by which China can support Russia could include many more, in particular the supply of spare parts for Russian equipment, such as the Su-27 fighter jets, which are used by both countries, but China is increasingly disaffected. Vehicles such as the Y-20s can also be leased from Russian companies to relieve pressure on their own fleet of Il-76s and An-124s.
Photos used: t.me/uvznews
