of financial times report On Wednesday, the Biden administration said it had asked senior Chinese officials to pressure Iran to halt attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi terrorist proxies.
according to of of the times Those pleas from senior Biden officials, from National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, fell on deaf ears in Beijing, sources said.
The Biden team has reportedly sought help from China “over the past three months” but deemed “little evidence that China has put pressure on Iran to rein in the Houthis.”
The best the Chinese government could do was a bland statement calling on all parties to guarantee the safety of Red Sea shipping.Houthis answered By guaranteeing China and Russia the ability to fly ships, their The flag cannot be attacked. Terrorist attacks on ships of other countries continued unabated.
On November 20, 2023, Yemen's Houthi fighters seize the Galaxy Leader cargo in the Red Sea. (Houthi movement, via Getty Images)
Pinprick airstrikes by US and British forces against Houthi missile batteries are not over yet Sure Now that the terrorists have either called off their attacks or greatly reduced their ability to threaten commercial shipping, Biden officials are now speaking to reporters about the background. serious escalation military action against the Houthis.
A Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon aircraft takes off from Akrotiri Air Force, Cyprus, on January 11, 2024, to join the US-led coalition conducting airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. (MoD Crown copyright from his Getty Images)
China has done little to stabilize the Red Sea, instead focusing its criticism on the US and UK for “adding fuel to the fire” by using force against the Houthis. China also stuck to its pro-Hamas, pro-Iranian line, insisting that the only real solution to the Red Sea crisis was for Israel to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and appease the Houthi terrorists. China also seems very reluctant to break Iran's fiction that it cannot actually control the Yemeni rebellion that Iran has supported and armed for a decade.
Some observers of the conflict had thought China might become more involved as Houthi attacks began to increase costs and lengthen transit times. dig increase profit margin About Chinese exporters. Some of those exporters may struggle to survive without the rapid service and low costs afforded by the Red Sea and Suez Canal trade routes.
Houthi forces board the Galaxy Leader cargo in the Red Sea on November 19, 2023. (Houthi Media Center via AP)
If these exporters have any political influence over the Chinese Communist Party, they do not appear to have used it yet.spoke to Biden officials times He was pessimistic about the prospects for China to change its stance.
“I don't want to overstate how much they did or what impact it had,” one government official said with a sigh.
said Dennis Wilder of Georgetown University, a former CIA China expert. of times This means that Beijing values diplomatic and commercial relations with Iran and other Middle Eastern countries far more than the money Chinese companies are losing in the Red Sea.
Wilder predicted that China would be “very reluctant to exercise limited influence against the Islamic State in a way that recognizes America's progressive interests without benefiting China.”
Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution was even more pessimistic, suggesting that China is experiencing a “crisis that has stalled the United States and its partners” so far without causing major disruption to Chinese exports.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Wang Wenbin claimed that On Wednesday, China said it was “in close contact with various parties” and “actively working to de-escalate tensions in the Red Sea.”
“China calls for an end to sabotage of civilian shipping,” Wang said, but quickly conditioned that request by claiming that “tension in the Red Sea is a manifestation of spillover from the Gaza conflict.”
“The priority now is to end the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible to avoid further escalation and prevent the situation from getting out of control.”
Wang said US and UK efforts to rein in the Houthis are a violation of “Yemeni's sovereignty and territorial integrity” because the US Security Council “does not authorize the use of force by any country”. I snorted.
