China may not take part in US-led multinational patrol unless its own ships are threatened, as it would not like to send mixed signals on the Gaza war, observers say.
China would be unlikely to deploy naval forces in the Red Sea against the Houthi militants as invited by the United States, as this could put its position on the Israel-Gaza conflict at risk, analysts said.
This comes as Iran-backed Houthi militants based in Yemen continue to attack Israel-linked commercial vessels in the lower Red Sea with drones and missiles, in response to the sustained Israeli military assault on Gaza.
More than 20 countries have agreed to take part in a new US-led coalition to safeguard commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by Houthis, the Pentagon said last week.
However, despite the likely impact of the attacks on China’s own supply chains, Beijing might not take part in the anti-piracy drive until there are actual security threats to Chinese vessels, the observers said.
The Houthis’ actions are mainly concentrated around the Bab el-Mandeb strait from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden along the Yemeni coast – a unique energy corridor connecting to Egypt’s Suez Canal linking Europe and Asia.
The 193km (120-mile) canal, one of the world’s busiest waterways and the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia, accounts for 12 per cent of global trade, including 30 per cent of all container movement, according to Egypt’s State Information Service.
The Houthi assaults intensified since mid-November, driving major shipping companies, including Europe’s CMA CGM, Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping, as well as Chinese state-owned giant Cosco and Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine, to suspend transits through Bab el-Mandeb.
On Sunday, Maersk cited the US-led naval operation in announcing it would resume operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, “and once again return to using the Suez Canal as a gateway between Asia and Europe”.
The Operation Prosperity Guardian coalition, announced by Washington on December 18, includes the US, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, and Spain and Seychelles, with Bahrain the only Middle Eastern nation to have joined so far.
China has been invited to take part in protecting the Red Sea, with the US State Department saying Washington would “welcome a constructive role played by Beijing” to prevent Houthi attacks.
