![]() ![]() 7 Examining Russian weapons captured in Ukraine, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) discovered in August 2022 that the majority of microchip components in Russian systems originated from the United States, East Asia, and Western Europe. 6 Lacking scalable domestic substitutes, Russia relies on foreign-made microelectronic components to produce a range of military gear, including weapons like drones and cruise missiles. Numerous reports indicate that despite sweeping Western sanctions, Russia’s defense industrial base has successfully established alternative routes to import dual-use components needed for manufacturing military equipment. High levels of semiconductor trade between Hong Kong and Russia, as well as the Hong Kong government’s public scorn for Western sanctions, have made Hong Kong’s allegiance clear: it sits firmly in the camp of an emerging China-Russia axis. In today’s Hong Kong, the government follows Beijing’s orders in virtually all matters of governance, particularly for issues with geopolitical salience. Hong Kong’s complicity in sanctions busting is not merely a byproduct of being one of the busiest shipping hubs in the world it is a direct consequence of Hong Kong’s increased subservience to China, now that Beijing has wiped out the last vestiges of autonomy in the special administrative region. 5īrian (Chun Hey) Kot is a research assistant in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program. export control regulations against Russia, and multiple individuals and entities operating from Hong Kong have been sanctioned for their involvement in the Russian military’s procurement network. ![]() 4 Many of these transactions violate U.S. 3 Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Hong Kong has doubled its integrated circuits exports to around $400 million worth of semiconductors in 2022, second only to China and far exceeding any third country in the volume of semiconductor trade with Russia. Recent reports have identified Hong Kong as a prominent node in Russia’s illicit procurement network, acting as a transshipment hub for diverting Western-made microelectronic components to companies affiliated with the Russian military. While China’s support for Russia is widely reported, Hong Kong’s substantial contributions to Russia’s war efforts are less known. ![]() Russia’s most consequential partner, China, has extended a critical helping hand to an increasingly isolated Russia, funneling over $500 million worth of microelectronic components needed to manufacture military gear into Russia’s defense industrial base in 2022 alone. Despite Western sanctions, foreign-made technology continues to find its way into Russia’s war machine. 1 To cut off Russia’s access to the critical components required to manufacture these weapons, the United States and its partners have imposed a wide array of sanctions against Russia’s defense industrial base. As the war in Ukraine continues into its second year, Moscow has intensified its campaign to strike Ukrainian targets with strategic bombers, lethal drones, and cruise missiles. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |