China used India–Pakistan conflict to test and promote its weapons, says US commission report

China “opportunistically” used the India–Pakistan conflict in May to “test and promote” its defence capabilities, according to a bipartisan US commission’s annual report.

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said Beijing viewed the flare-up as an opportunity to showcase its military power “in the contexts of its ongoing border tensions with India and its expanding defence industry goals.”

According to the report, published on Tuesday, the clash marked the first real-world use of several of China’s modern, indigenously built weapons systems, including the HQ-9 air defence system, PL-15 air-to-air missiles and J-10 fighter jets. It described the four-day conflict as a live “field experiment” for China’s military hardware.

China’s post-conflict arms push to Pakistan

Following the hostilities, China reportedly offered Pakistan 40 J-35 fifth-generation fighter jets, KJ-500 aircraft and ballistic missile defence systems in June. The report, based on committee hearings and analysis of publicly available information and media accounts, said Chinese embassies praised the “successes” of China’s weapons during the clash, using the moment to “bolster weapons sales”.

The commission stressed that describing the May conflict as a “proxy war” would overstate China’s role as an “instigator.”

China’s campaign against the Rafale

The report also detailed how China ran a “disinformation campaign” to undermine the French Rafale fighter jet after India deployed it during strikes in Pakistan.

“According to French intelligence, China initiated a disinformation campaign to hinder sales of French Rafales in favour of its own J-35s, and it used fake social media accounts to propagate AI and video game images of supposed ‘debris’ from the planes China’s weaponry destroyed,” the report said.

The commission added that Chinese embassy officials had convinced Indonesia to drop its planned purchase of Rafales and consider the J-35 instead. Beijing, however, denied the allegations.

“This so-called ‘commission’ that you mentioned always harbours ideological bias against China and has no credibility to speak of,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said. “The commission’s report itself is disinformation.”

The India–Pakistan confrontation

Tensions between India and Pakistan surged after a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on 22 April, which killed 26 people. India identified cross-border involvement and launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ on 7 May, targeting multiple terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan responded with a major missile and drone barrage, which India intercepted. Indian forces then struck Pakistani airfields in retaliation. Hostilities ended on 10 May with the announcement of a ceasefire.