U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held meetings this past week with many NATO member countries, repeatedly bringing up warnings of China’s deepening support for the Russian defense sector. The strengthening relationship between China and Russia is “at a concerning scale,” according to Blinken.
Particularly, he is concerned about investment in Moscow’s propellant technology and space sector. According to Washington, increasing capital in those areas poses threats to many countries around the world.
China and Russia’s economic trade has increased dramatically in the past four years. There was $108 billion USD of trade between the two nations, and today there is $240 billion USD, marking a 45% increase since the pandemic. China has emphasized that its involvement in the Russian defense sector has been a product of Western aggression toward both Moscow and Beijing.
In return, China has received ample quantities of oil from Moscow. Russia has now become Beijing’s largest oil supplier in the world, surpassing Saudi Arabia in 2023. In the past year, the supply of oil from Russia to China has jumped by 24%.
