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The British-registered cargo vessel Rubymar sinks after being damaged in a missile attack by Houthi militants in the Red Sea. Photo: EPA-EFE

China Diplomacy

Why China’s Red Sea diplomatic mission is unlikely to stop Houthi shipping attacks

Beijing continues to walk a fine line between helping to end the Red Sea attacks and maintaining its neutral position on the Israel-Gaza war
Analysts note China’s reluctance to get involved, saying a recent diplomatic visit to the Middle East could be seen as ‘routine’

China-Middle East relations

Zhao Ziwen

Published: 10:00am, 4 Mar 2024

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As Houthi rebels continue to wreak havoc in the Red Sea, China recently sent a diplomat to the major countries involved in the crisis in a bid to “restore safety and stability” in the region.

But analysts have said the diplomatic mission is unlikely to yield any solid breakthroughs in the crisis due to Beijing’s continuing reluctance to intervene further – and threaten its neutral position in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Last month, Wang Di, director general of the foreign ministry’s West Asian and North African affairs department, became the first Chinese diplomat since the crisis began to visit both Saudi Arabia and Oman as he met with Saudi, Omani and Yemeni officials.

In all his meetings, he had a similar message.

In Saudi capital Riyadh, Wang told Yemeni deputy foreign minister Mansour Ali Saeed Bajash that China attached great importance to “maintaining security and stability in the Red Sea region”, adding that Beijing supported Yemen’s “legitimate government”, but it would only pursue a “political settlement” on the anti-government Houthi militants.

While there, he made the same point to Saudi Arabian officials – that Beijing was willing to work with the country to “restore safety and stability” in the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, Wang also highlighted China’s call for a ceasefire in Gaza during his tour, telling Omani officials that Beijing believed the Red Sea crisis was a “prominent manifestation of the spillover from Gaza”.

03:21

US-led coalition strikes Iran-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen

Since November, Iran-backed rebel Houthi militants have conducted drone and missile attacks on the Red Sea shipping lines in response to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, damaging the vital trade lifeline connecting Europe and Asia.

Liu Xinlu, director of the school of Arabic studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said Wang’s visit showed that the Red Sea crisis was “closely related” to China’s interests.

“Although the Yemeni Houthis have not launched attacks on Chinese ships and have given such facilities to [Chinese] personnel and enterprises, the Red Sea corridor is related to world shipping, so the transport of oil and gas resources and commodities still has a relatively large impact [on China],” he said.

Saudi Arabia and Oman are key players in the Houthi crisis. Riyadh has led an anti-Houthi coalition against the militants since 2015. The years-long war has triggered humanitarian crises in Yemen, but under Oman’s mediation, the two parties started ceasefire negotiations last year.

Beijing has also reportedly urged Tehran to rein in the rebel group. Earlier this month, the Chinese deputy foreign minister Ma Zhaoxu told his Iranian counterpart Ali Bagheri that Beijing needed “safety of navigation in Red Sea waters”.

Liu said Wang’s visit reaffirmed Beijing’s position on the Red Sea crisis, which was “a spillover of the Gaza war”, and further suggested that “the Palestinian-Israeli issue is at the heart of the Middle East problem”.

The Iran-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen have been causing havoc on the vital Red Sea trade routes since November in protest over the Israel-Gaza war. Photo: AP

“Actually, Wang’s diplomatic visit is about furthering Beijing’s goal of a political solution to the Palestinian-Israeli issue, which is to achieve a ceasefire [in Gaza] through diplomatic mediation and political approaches,” he said.

But Yin Gang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that since Wang was not considered a senior official of the foreign ministry, his visit was more of a “routine” one, underscoring Beijing’s reluctance to get more involved in the crisis.

He noted that as the Houthi militants gave the green light to Chinese and Russian vessels in the trade corridor, Beijing needed to maintain a balanced approach so it would not be blamed for “conspiring with the Houthis and Iran”.

Beijing has long supported the exiled legitimate government of Yemen, but it also advocated a peaceful resolution to the Yemen crisis, avoiding a harsh stance towards the Houthi militants.

It has sought to play the role of peacemaker in the Yemen conflict at the diplomatic level as its influence in the Middle East grows. Last year, Shao Zheng, charge d’affaires of the Chinese embassy in Yemen, promoted the idea of China as a mediator after it brokered a peace deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

But in terms of the Red Sea, Yin said: “China has no ability nor motivation to be further involved.”

He said Beijing would continue its independent strategy, which meant steering clear of any approaches from Tehran or the Houthis, or even Washington.

“Except when China’s vital interests are compromised, such as a widespread attack on Chinese carriers, China will maintain a low-profile stance.”

Wang Di, director general of the foreign ministry’s West Asian and North African affairs department, visited Saudi Arabia and Oman earlier this month in a bid to find a diplomatic solution to the Red Sea crisis. Photo: Handout

Washington has also pushed China to get further engaged in their exchanges in recent months, with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken putting pressure on Beijing.

Liu predicted higher-profile diplomatic exchanges related to the Gaza war and Red Sea issues may be on their way, with Beijing still looking to find political solutions to the Palestine-Israel conflict.

China is not alone in trying to maintain a fragile balance in the Red Sea crisis. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both traditionally allies of the US, have not joined the anti-Houthi patrols, but neither have they publicly supported the militants’ attacks on Israel. Egypt has also largely remained silent.

“China’s position is mostly one of distancing itself from Western countries. Chinese diplomats have been carefully commenting on the events, but in Beijing’s narratives, the rise of attacks is a consequence of Israel’s war in Gaza,” said Jean-Loup Samaan, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute.

“Because Beijing portrays the US as the main cause behind regional instability in the Middle East, it looks at Prosperity Guardian and the air strikes against the Houthis as contributing elements to the escalation,” he said.

Operation Prosperity Guardian is a US-led military exercise formed in December 2023 to respond to the Red Sea attacks.

10:26

Yemen’s Houthi fighters behind Red Sea attacks threaten to disrupt global trade

China, meanwhile, has not announced any force deployment to help safeguard the shipping routes, despite having a strong military presence in the region.

The passage of water at the centre of the crisis is home to China’s first overseas naval base – in Djibouti. The Horn of Africa port opened in 2017 across the sea from Yemen’s Houthi-controlled west coast.

On February 21, China dispatched the 46th fleet of the Chinese PLA Navy to secure the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia, which connect the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. It replaces the 45th fleet.

Without mentioning the Red Sea crisis, the PLA Navy said the 46th fleet includes a guided-missile destroyer, a missile frigate and a comprehensive replenishment vessel.

The deployment includes more than 700 officers and soldiers, dozens of special forces personnel and two helicopters.

Despite China not joining the US-led operations in the area, Yin said the heavy presence of the 46th fleet sent a clear signal to Iran and Houthi militants that China would protect shipping safety there.

China’s defence ministry, however, denied the dispatched fleet is related to the Red Sea crisis, calling it a “regular escort operation” on February 29.

“The fact that the Chinese naval fleet went to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters to carry out regular escort operations has nothing to do with the current regional situation,” ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said, referring to the Red Sea situation.