Overview
- A bipartisan congressional commission alleges Beijing treated the May 7–10 confrontation as a live proving ground to test and promote its latest systems.
- The report says HQ-9 air defences, PL-15 air-to-air missiles and J-10 fighters were used in combat for the first time, yielding performance data.
- Chinese embassies publicly highlighted the systems’ results after the fighting to support sales efforts, according to the report.
- Citing French intelligence, the report alleges a disinformation campaign to undercut France’s Rafale, using fake accounts and AI or video‑game images, and it claims Indonesian Rafale purchases were halted under Chinese pressure.
- The commission says China later offered Pakistan 40 J-35 fighters, KJ-500 early warning aircraft and ballistic missile defence systems in June, while China rejected the findings as disinformation.