Washington, May 15 (IANS) Senior US lawmakers and State Department officials warned that China’s growing support for Russia’s war machine is rapidly reshaping how the Baltic states view Beijing, with Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia increasingly treating economic relations with China as a national security issue linked directly to the war in Ukraine.

The issue emerged repeatedly during a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing on Baltic security, where lawmakers described the three NATO frontline states as among America’s strongest allies against both Russian aggression and expanding Chinese influence in Europe.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Smith said Baltic governments were reassessing trade and strategic ties with Beijing because of China’s support for Russia’s defence sector.

“China provides about 80 per cent of dual use goods for the Russian defense industrial base,” Smith told lawmakers.

He added that Baltic countries were now “drawing conclusions and cooling their economic relations with China as a result”.

The comments came amid rising concern across Europe that Beijing has become a crucial economic and technological lifeline for Moscow as the Ukraine war continues into its fourth year.

Ranking member Rep. William Keating said China was carefully studying the Ukraine conflict and watching how NATO responds on its eastern frontier.

“Our strategic policy towards China is one of deterrence,” Keating said, asking whether Beijing was analysing developments in Ukraine and the Baltics while shaping its calculations towards Taiwan.

Smith agreed, saying China was “certainly studying the war in Ukraine”.

Republican lawmakers also raised alarms over Chinese influence operations and economic coercion in the region. Rep. Young Kim highlighted Lithuania’s decision to allow Taiwan to open a representative office under the name “Taiwanese” in 2021 — a move that triggered sharp retaliation from Beijing.

Kim asked whether Lithuania was softening its stance after recent comments by Lithuanian leaders about restoring ties with China. Smith replied that Lithuania remained “a leading voice” inside Europe against Chinese economic coercion.

“My impression is the Baltic states, as they view their relationships with China, they are looking very carefully at China’s support for Russia in Ukraine,” he said.

Lawmakers from both parties described Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as “model allies” that have exceeded NATO defence spending goals while aggressively backing Ukraine militarily and politically.

Smith said the Baltic countries had already removed many Chinese components from communications systems and were working closely with the United States on secure supply chains.

Republican Rep. Randy Fine said China was becoming “an enemy of these countries as well, even though it can seem very, very far away”.

The Baltic states — former Soviet republics that joined NATO in 2004 — have become some of Kyiv’s strongest supporters since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have collectively donated major portions of their defence budgets to Ukraine and significantly increased military spending amid fears that Russia could eventually redirect pressure towards NATO’s eastern flank.

--IANS

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