Arms trafficking
Satellite images raise questions: Is Russia transporting weapons through China?
For arms deliveries from North Korea to Russia: the container ship is said to be docked near the port city of Zhoushan
© CFOTO / Imago Images
For a long time it was unclear how much China supports Russia militarily. Now satellite images are causing discontent. Because Russia is suspected of transporting weapons through Chinese ports.
It could be so banal, a simple picture of global trade: satellite images show a Russian cargo ship, the Angara, in a Chinese port. Only: Angara supplies North Korean weapons to its home country. The satellite images are therefore extremely explosive. They at least give reason to suspect that China is supporting Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. At least Beijing should now have a good explanation: Why is a Russian freighter known for transporting North Korean weapons to Russia lying undisturbed in one of its ports?
The images were examined by the think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), which researches defense and security. Accordingly, the Angara has been anchored in a Chinese shipyard in the eastern province of Zhejiang since February. The freighter has transported thousands of containers suspected to contain North Korean ammunition to Russian ports since August 2023. RUSI monitored the ship as part of a project to examine the impact of sanctions against North Korea.
The satellite images are now causing a bad mood, especially in the USA. US officials have increasingly harsh warnings about China’s help in rebuilding the Russian military pronounced. The mood between the two superpowers is threatening to deteriorate.
The USA does not want to stand idly by
China’s support for Moscow is expected to be high on the agenda during Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Beijing this week. Blinken last week criticized Chinese support for the Russian defense industry and said Beijing is currently contributing the most to Moscow’s war in Ukraine by providing key weapons components. The State Department’s second-highest diplomat, Kurt Campbell, said this month that Washington would not “stand idly by” if Beijing increased its support for Moscow.
A US State Department spokesman said he had already raised the issue with Chinese authorities.
“We call on all member states to comply with their obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 2397,” the official said. It restricts trade with North Korea and requires UN states to deregister all ships involved in illegal activities. According to the spokesman, US Secretary of State Blinken would also address a number of issues in a meeting with China’s foreign minister – including the relationship between China and Russia.
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The Chinese Embassy in Washington said it was not aware of the details surrounding Angara, but that China “always opposes unilateral sanctions and sweeping jurisprudence, which have no basis in international law or the mandate of the Security Council.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry also said it had no information on the matter.
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The United States and dozens of other countries said earlier this year that North Korea’s arms transfers to Russia “flagrantly” violate several U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The Russian Foreign Ministry and the Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard did not respond to inquiries about Angara.
Transponder was only switched on briefly
The ship was ultimately identified by its AIS (Automatic Identification System) transponder, which was probably switched on briefly for security reasons while the freighter was traveling through a busy section of the Korea Strait on the way to China. The think tank concluded that the Angara was docked at the Zhoushan Xinya shipyard in Zhejiang. The RUSI then examined the satellite images that it had received in recent months from, among others, the San Francisco-based company Planet Labs PBC. These confirmed the suspicion: The Angara was actually in the dock of the Zhoushan Xinya shipyard in Zhejiang.
According to RUSI, before arriving in China on February 9, the Angara had docked in North Korean and Russian ports in January with its transponder turned off. The ship was apparently supposed to have gone to China for repairs and maintenance purposes. Shortly after arriving there, the transponder was switched off again.