Whoever Wins in the Red Sea, China Can’t Lose
Free of Washington’s global security commitments, Beijing can sit back and watch the conflict with the Houthis unfold.
Being the world’s policeman has a price.
Photographer: Sean M. Castellano US Navy/Getty Images
As the US ramps up strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, it seems to be risking the lives of its service members and expending pricey high-tech munitions to help out its greatest geopolitical rival: China.
Of course, the US is acting to protect international shipping and keep sea lanes open, both worthy goals. But China, which sends 60% of its exports to Europe through the Red Sea, will inevitably be one of the biggest beneficiaries if US and British forces can quell the Houthi attacks. Meanwhile, the Chinese navy has not dispatched a single warship to the region even though it has a task force on an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden, not far away.