China Is Cutting Off Drone Supplies Critical to Ukraine War Effort

China’s escalating conflict with the US over trade is now extending to the drones that have become a vital part of Ukraine’s defense.

Manufacturers in China recently began limiting sales to the US and Europe of key components used to build unmanned aerial vehicles, according to multiple people with knowledge of the developments, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive information.

The moves are a prelude to broader export restrictions on drone parts that western officials expect Beijing to enforce in the new year, the people said. Those rules could take the form of license approvals based on the intended use of the components or softer requirements for Chinese companies to notify the government of their shipment plans, according to one of the people.

...

The Chinese export restrictions could spur a wave of competition from suppliers in Korea, Japan or elsewhere, said Keegan McBride, a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute who studies tech policy. He believes Beijing’s leadership is fully aware of this reality.

“It’s certainly a calculated decision,” he said. “How hard they push on that, or how strictly they enforce it, will be a pretty clear mechanism for understanding how serious they are.”

Read the full article on Bloomberg.