China used India-Pakistan conflict to test weapons, push defence sales: US report

China ‘opportunistically’ tested arms on Pakistan’s frontline, says US panel

China took advantage of the India-Pakistan conflict earlier this year to test advanced weaponry supplied to Islamabad, a bipartisan US commission has said in its annual report to Congress.

The 2025 report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said Beijing “opportunistically used Pakistan’s military crisis to test and promote its own defence capabilities.”

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It stated that “China opportunistically used Pakistan’s military crisis to test and promote its own defence capabilities,” arguing the four-day clash provided Beijing with a chance to assess and showcase its systems amid ongoing tensions with India and ambitions to grow its defence exports.

As per the commission, the confrontation marked the first use of China’s latest military systems in live combat conditions.

“This clash was the first time China’s modern weapons systems, including the HQ-9 air defence system, PL-15 air-to-air missiles, and the J-10 fighter aircraft, were used in active combat, serving as a real-world field experiment,” the report noted.

The weapons’ performance was then highlighted publicly by Chinese officials, and the report points to efforts to advance defence sales immediately afterward. Citing French intelligence, it said China “initiated a disinformation campaign to undermine the sale of French Rafale jets in favour of its own J-35s,” using fake accounts to push AI-generated and video-game imagery showing supposed wreckage of Indian aircraft allegedly destroyed by Chinese systems.

The report further stated that Chinese Embassy representatives persuaded Indonesia to pause a Rafale procurement deal already underway, marking a strategic move to advance Beijing’s presence in regional defence markets.

China remains Pakistan’s primary military supplier, accounting for around 82% of Islamabad’s defence imports between 2019 and 2023. Joint exercises and operational cooperation between the two militaries have also expanded in recent years, reinforcing what the report describes as a deepening defence partnership.

Beijing has rejected the findings as baseless, insisting the panel has long held an anti-China bias.