New Delhi / Washington, D.C: A recent report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) alleges that China used the India–Pakistan conflict in May 2025 as a “real-world field experiment” to test and showcase its newest military technologies — a claim that has raised serious strategic concerns.
According to the commission’s annual report to the U.S. Congress, Beijing “opportunistically leveraged” the four-day escalation (May 7–10), during which both India and Pakistan exchanged missile strikes, drone attacks and air sorties, to assess how its advanced systems fare in active combat.
First combat use of modern chinese platforms
“While characterization of this conflict as a “proxy war” may overstate China’s role as an instigator, Beijing
opportunistically leveraged the conflict to test and advertise the sophistication of its weapons, useful in the contexts of its ongoing border tensions with India and its expanding defense industry goals.
As Pakistan’s largest defense supplier, China provided approximately 82 percent of the country’s arms imports from 2019 to 2023. This clash was the first time China’s modern weapons systems, including the HQ-9 air defense system, PL-15 air-to-air missiles, and J-10 fighter aircraft were used in active combat, serving as a real-world field experiment,” the USCG report reads.
Promotion of weapons performance
In the weeks immediately following the conflict, Chinese embassies publicly praised the performance of these systems, the report says, as part of an effort to bolster its global defence sales.
Subsequent arms offers to Pakistan
Reportedly, in June 2025 — just a month after the fighting — China offered Pakistan a substantial arms package: 40 J-35 fifth-generation fighter jets, KJ-500 airborne early-warning aircraft, and ballistic missile defence systems, according to the USCC.
Alleged disinformation campaign against Rafale
The report also accuses China of running a disinformation effort aimed at undermining sales of the French Rafale fighter jet. According to the USCC, Beijing used fake social media accounts and circulated AI-generated or video-game–style images purporting to show debris from destroyed Rafales — a tactic intended to steer buyers toward its own J-35 fighter.
As part of this push, Chinese embassy officials even persuaded Indonesia to hold off on a Rafale purchase, the report alleges.
Background on the conflict
The May 2025 escalation was triggered by a terror attack on April 22 in Pahalgam, in which 26 civilians were killed; India blamed militant groups based in Pakistan.
In response, India launched “Operation Sindoor” on May 7, targeting what it described as terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
Pakistan retaliated with missile and drone strikes, and India struck back. A ceasefire was brokered on May 10.
China expanded its military cooperation with Pakistan
“China expanded its military cooperation with Pakistan in 2025, compounding its own security tensions with India. In November and December 2024, China and Pakistan held the three-week Warrior-VIII counterterrorism drills, and in February 2025, China’s navy participated in Pakistan’s multinational AMAN drills, highlighting China’s and Pakistan’s growing defense cooperation. India’s commentators viewed the drills as losses in their relationship with China and as direct security threats to its territorial position,” the report claims further.
Response & reactions
China’s Rejection: Beijing has rejected the report’s conclusions, calling it biased and dismissing the USCC’s findings as lacking credibility.
Concerns in New Delhi: The report has reignited debate in India about the deepening China–Pakistan military nexus. Observers argue that the conflict may signal China’s growing boldness in using its ally Pakistan as a testing ground for its most advanced weapons.
