UK claims to know more about China arms sales than its own
- London warns Beijing is planning ‘lethal aid’ for Russia in the Ukraine war, but says it has no idea how many weapons it has sold to Israel
The British government knows more about Chinese military aid than its own. That seems to be the case judging by the statements of two senior British officials. Perhaps UK spies are geniuses while the bureaucrats are utter incompetents; who knows? Or is it the other way around because the bureaucrats have something to hide?
Speaking at a defence conference in London this week, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps claimed he had evidence that China was planning to provide Russia with “lethal aid” to use in its war in Ukraine.
“Lethal aid is now, or will be, flowing from China to Russia and into Ukraine … [in] a significant development,” he reportedly said.
So, now or later? And what evidence does he have? As is usual with this kind of Western allegation, none is forthcoming. Trust us, we never lie.
In any case, it seems the defence chief is fairly certain that China is up to no good in Ukraine. The same sense of certainty eluded Alan Mak, the minister for industry and economic security.
Mak was in a bit of a pickle before a parliamentary committee on business and trade on Tuesday. The topic of the day was “UK arms exports to Israel”, and Mak could not provide precise figures beyond what Foreign Minister David Cameron told lawmakers earlier, which was supposedly very little.