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WASHINGTON: The top US commander in the Pacific warned senators Thursday that the military support China and North Korea are giving Russia in its war on Ukraine is creating a security risk in his region as Moscow provides critical military assistance to both in return.
Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of US Indo-Pacific Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that China has provided 70 percent of the machine tools and 90 percent of the legacy chips to Russia to help Moscow “rebuild its war machine.”
In exchange, he said, China is potentially getting help in technologies to make its submarines move more quietly, along with other assistance.
Senators pressed Paparo and Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of US Forces Korea, on China’s advances in the region, including threats to Taiwan. And they also questioned both on the US military presence in South Korea, and whether it should be shielded from personnel cuts..
Both said the current US force there and across the Indo-Pacific is critical for both diplomacy in the region and America’s national security, as ties between Russia and China grow. The US has 28,500 forces in South Korea.
Paparo said North Korea is sending “thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of artillery shells” and hundreds of short-range missiles to Russia. The expectation, he said, is that Pyongyang will get air defense and surface-to-air missile support.
“It’s a transactional symbiosis where each state fulfills the other state’s weakness to mutual benefit of each state,” Paparo said.
In his opening comments, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican committee chairman, said the greater alignment of Russia, China and North Korea “should be of great concern to all in the West. This concern should then lead to action. If we are to maintain global peace and stability, we must continue taking steps now to rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence.”
Brunson said North Korea has shown the ability to send munitions and troops to Russia while advancing development of its own military capabilities, including hypersonics. Pyongyang, he said, “boasts a Russian-equipped, augmented, modernized military force of over 1.3 million personnel.”
North Korea’s efforts to develop advanced nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles ”pose a direct threat to our homeland and our allies,” Paparo added.
North Korea also has sent thousands of soldiers to fight with the Russians against Ukraine. And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that Russia is actively recruiting Chinese citizens to fight alongside its forces in the Ukraine war. He said more than 150 such mercenaries are already active in the battle with Beijing’s knowledge.
China has called the accusation “irresponsible.”
In other comments, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the panel, said observers fear that President Donald Trump will “shrink the US troop presence in Korea and Japan, reduce our military exercises with both nations, and scale back plans for our Joint Force Headquarters in Japan.” Any such actions, he said, will sow “seeds of doubt” about America’s stability and trustworthiness.
He also questioned whether recent moves by the Pentagon to shift an aircraft carrier and Patriot missile battalion from the Pacific region to the Middle East have hurt military readiness in the Indo-Pacific command.
Paparo said he owes the defense chief and the president “constant vigilance” on that matter, including a persistent awareness on whether those forces could get back to the Pacific if there is suddenly a “higher priority threat” in his region.

LONDON: Prince Harry met with war victims on Thursday in an unannounced visit to Ukraine as part of his ongoing work with wounded veterans, a spokesperson said.
Harry visited the Superhumans Center, an orthopedic clinic in Lviv that treats and rehabilitates wounded military personnel and civilians, to see top-notch services provided in a country in the midst of war. The center provides prosthetics, reconstructive surgery and psychological help free of charge.
The Duke of Sussex, who served 10 years in the British Army, has made helping injured soldiers one of his most prominent causes. He founded the Invictus Games in 2014 to offer wounded veterans the challenge of competing in sports events similar to the Paralympics.
Harry was accompanied by a contingent from the Invictus Games Foundation, including four veterans who have been through similar rehabilitation experiences.
The visit to the area in western Ukraine that has frequently been targeted with Russian missiles was not announced until after he was out of the country.
He traveled to Ukraine after spending two days in a London court where he is appealing the British government’s decision to strip him of his government-funded protection after he quit working as a member of the royal family in 2020 and moved his family to California.
The prince is no stranger to war, having served two tours in Afghanistan, where he flew missions as an Apache helicopter copilot gunner.
Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles III, is the second member of the royal family to visit Ukraine. His aunt, Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, became the first British royal to travel to the country since Russia’s 2022 invasion when she made an unannounced visit to Kyiv last year.
The royal family has been outspoken in their support for Ukraine. King Charles warmly greeted President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support at his estate on the North Sea coast just two days after his extraordinary dressing down by US President Donald Trump at the White House.
Harry’s older brother, Prince William, met with Ukrainian refugees during a two day visit to Estonia last month.