Could it be true?

The Iranian connection may also have a Shanghai connection as well.

If true, this is very troubling. Very troubling, indeed!

Via Power Line (via the Washington Times)

Intelligence: China Supplying Terrorists In Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan

Bill Gertz, writing in the Washington Times, said today that China is supplying large quantities of weapons to both Iraq and Afghanistan, through Iran:

New intelligence reveals China is covertly supplying large quantities of small arms and weapons to insurgents in Iraq and the Taliban militia in Afghanistan, through Iran.

Some arms were sent by aircraft directly from Chinese factories to Afghanistan and included large-caliber sniper rifles, millions of rounds of ammunition, rocket-propelled grenades and components for roadside bombs, as well as other small arms.

According to the officials, the Iranians, in buying the arms, asked Chinese state-run suppliers to expedite the transfers and to remove serial numbers to prevent tracing their origin. China, for its part, offered to transport the weapons in order to prevent the weapons from being interdicted.

U.S. Army specialists suspect the weapons were transferred within the past three months.

The Bush administration has been trying to hide or downplay the intelligence reports to protect its pro-business policies toward China, and to continue to claim that China is helping the United States in the war on terrorism. U.S. officials have openly criticized Iran for the arms transfers but so far there has been no mention that China is a main supplier.

There is no question about the fact that Iranian-supplied weaponry is making our task more difficult in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The question is one of degree. I don't have a good sense of whether this is a major factor or a small one. Likewise, it would take more information to determine whether China's contribution is material or not.

Still, why put up with even a trickle of Chinese weapons to our enemies? The economic growth on which China's leaders have staked their country's future is dependent on China's relationship with the U.S. Somewhere in our government's vast bureaucracy there are people who could suggest ways in which we could make it unprofitable for China to supply our enemies.

First off, how on earth did the Washington Times uncover an international arms conspiracy involving one of our biggest trading partners and one of our greatest enemies?

Then, on the one hand, if China is supplying the weapons being used to kill American Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, then that is simply outrageous. On the other hand, China probably sees our arming and funding of Tibet as being along the same vein. This is not to suggest that we are wrong to support Tibet, but it seems especially relevant to any outrage we may have towards China.