The Journal cites (gated) U.S. officials for the info:
- In recent weeks, Western nations have picked up on intelligence that Beijing might end its previous self-imposed restraint on weapons supplies to Russia, according to U.S. and European officials, although it appears that China hasn’t yet made a final decision.
- Beijing had previously been cautious to confine its support to financial assistance and oil purchases, the officials said, but that stance now appears to be shifting, according to the latest intelligence assessments.
- “Until now,” a senior western official said, there “has been a certain amount of ambiguity about what practical help China might give Russia.” The official said that the intelligence the U.S. and its allies have now is “much less ambiguous.”
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China supplying weapons of war to the pariah state would contradict their pleas to stop 'warmongering'. It would add a whole new level of distrust to China's relationship with western democracies also. Its difficult to see how doing so would help China's business interests too.
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eur
