Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
By: The opinion Posted Mar 21, 2023, 20:07 pm EDT
Five Chinese companies and one person were sanctioned on Tuesday by the United States government after being accused of helping Iran manufacture the drones that are sent to support Russian troops in Ukraine.
A statement issued by the US Treasury Department said the sanctioned companies are part of a China-based network that sells and supplies thousands of aerospace components, which can be used to make drones, to the Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company. of Iran (HESA).
HESA is involved in the production of the Shahed-136 drones, which Tehran has been sending to Russia. This Iranian firm has been sanctioned by the United States since 2008 for its links to the Persian Ministry of Defense and for having supported the Revolutionary Guard.
Koto Machinery and its Hong Kong-based “front” company, Raven International Trade Limited, as well as Guilin Alpha, S&C Trade and Caspro firm are the companies that were designated by the United States.
The sanctioned person is Yun Xia Yuan, who works for S&C Trade.
Under the sanctions, all property and assets that these companies and individuals may have in the United States are blocked, and Americans are prohibited from having transactions with them.
China has sent weapons and bulletproof vests to Russia
Chinese companies, including one connected to the Beijing government, have sent Russian entities 1,000 assault rifles and other equipment that could be used for military purposes, including drone parts and bulletproof vests, according to the US publication POLITICAL.
The outlet specified that the shipments were made between June and December 2022, according to data provided by ImportGenius, a customs data aggregator to which it has had access.
China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, one of the country’s largest state defense contractors, shipped the assault rifles in June 2022 to a Russian company called Tekhkrim that also does business with the Russian state and military, it added.
The Russian entities also received 12 shipments of drone parts from Chinese companies and more than 12 tons of Chinese bulletproof vests, which passed through Turkey, by the end of 2022, according to the information.
Although the customs data does not show that Beijing is selling a large number of weapons to Moscow specifically, the magazine clarifies, it does reveal that China is supplying Russian companies with “dual-use” equipment and commercial items that could also be used in the field of battle in Ukraine.
Keep reading:
• China prepares a new increase in the military budget to respond to international tensions
• Beijing’s defiant response to Washington over the war in Ukraine
• China accuses the United States of exaggerating by banning TikTok on federal devices