Beijing shrugs at U.S. call for help protecting Red Sea shipping
Beijing shrugs at U.S. call for help protecting Red Sea shipping
China’s disinterest in Red Sea policing role underscores Beijing’s reluctance to back its rhetoric on Middle East peace with substantive action.
China’s disinterest in Red Sea policing role underscores Beijing’s reluctance to back its rhetoric on Middle East peace with substantive action.
The Chinese government appears to be brushing off Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call for Beijing to assist an international coalition in protecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militias.
Beijing signaled that it has no interest in joining the Pentagon’s Operation Prosperity Guardian , a multinational force including Canada, the United Kingdom and Bahrain, in providing security for cargo ships under threat of Houthi attack.
“We believe relevant parties, especially major countries with influence, need to play a constructive and responsible role in keeping the shipping lanes safe in the Red Sea,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Thursday in an indirect reference to U.S. military and diplomatic heft in the region.
This is the Suez Crisis of the 21st century. Chinese companies like OOCL are unaffected by conditions in the Red Sea and are still able to freely transit, so why should China care?
Edit: looks like in light of the US announcing Operation "Three Aircraft Carriers in the Red Sea", Hong Kong's OOCL and Taiwan's Evergreen have also now suspended shipments through the Red Sea. A few days ago, they had just suspended shipments to Israel and operated as per usual.
Truly, contributing to the security of the region by making sure that the few companies who could transit the Red Sea without being at risk are now at risk of getting caught in the crossfire.
Honestly they're right. Everyone knows why this is happening and it's because of Israel's genocide in Palestine. The US wants to support that genocide, but that's not China's business.
You meant it intensified; they existed and attacked the shipping route before this conflict escalated.
Also, many people forget the modern West uses retaliation as a tool against terrorism. Basically, if you mess with civilians, you'll face swift and harsh consequences. The attack legitimized a retaliatory response.
That's why it was confusing when Hamas initiated this phase with a terror attack, as Israel would invoke the retaliation card, supported by the USA. Humanitarian concerns become secondary to the objective of neutralizing or controlling Hamas. Crying for more humanity or boycotts won't significantly change the priority list.
The best outcome Hamas could have hoped for with the attack that started this is what's happening now: chaos, more hate, conflict, and the end of normalizing relations between the USA and some Middle Eastern states. They knew Israel would use the "9/11 card," and the USA would allow and support it.
Just to be clear, I neither support any form of "genocide" nor take sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict. It's odd to categorize so broadly and inclusively.
If you believe China's reluctance to participate in these maneuvers is due to the genocide allegations, then it's improbable, considering China isn't known for opposing genocide, (especially against Muslim groups). Practically, what Israel is accused of aligns with China's agenda – acquiring land, eliminating cultures, religions, and populations based on ethnicity. Just because China is more discreet doesn't make it morally superior.
Example here: Uyghur genocide.
If you believe China’s reluctance to participate in these maneuvers is due to the genocide allegations, then it’s improbable,
Yeah that's true. I meant: The US has no grounds asking China for help with "maintaining peace in the Middle East". I'm more objecting to the article's way of putting it, like it does here
China’s disinterest in Red Sea policing role underscores Beijing’s reluctance to back its rhetoric on Middle East peace with substantive action.
While I definitely don't like China, "help us protect our genocidal ally from the consequences of their actions" isn't something I'd expect or want them to agree to, either.
There's no geopolitical or moral reason for China to step out of its yard, so to speak, is what I meant.
My theory on the Hamas attack is that they mostly intended to take hostages to negotiate the release of Palestinians being held by Israel. They do that all the time. They expected to meet with a large military response and take mostly non-civilian hostages (as they’ve done in the past since IDF soldiers are high value hostages).
But Israel had shifted so much of their security forces to the West Bank that Hamas met with basically no effective resistance and ended up getting further into Israel than they ever planned.
I’m not saying Hamas was above killing civilians. But think we’ll learn one day that they were imagining more like 50-100 civilian deaths to draw a fight and then as many police and military hostages as they could muster. Most of the Hamas fighters probably expected to die just escaping Gaza.
Sooo groups of people thousands of miles away from the conflict who have no direct involvement in said conflict attacking the shipping of neutral parties is somehow justified….
Concurrently it is somehow the fault of the US for supporting Israel… even though Israel has no involvement in the state of affairs within Yemen.
That is some amazing mental gymnastics.
It's not "justified" it is "understandable". And yes, the shit that is happening there is a direct result of the genocide happening in Gaza. It also is the fault of the US - seeing how they are able to end the genocide if they wanted to. Still, they don't, with the president calling himself a "zionist" openly.
Sooo groups of people thousands of miles away from the conflict who have no direct involvement in said conflict attacking the shipping of neutral parties is somehow justified….
Uh... Yes, that's exactly the case. The attacks were made with the stated aim of isolating Israel economically. It's very much a kosher war tactic, and to the people of Yemen (or at least the Houthis) it definitely seems like they consider the genocide of Gazans enough of a casus bellus.
The reality is that the Chinese have very limited power projection capabilities and could not help anyone in the Red Sea if their future depended on it.
How can you possibly arrive at this conclusion? There's no evidence for this whatsoever.
The US asking for China's help is also a way of getting China to reveal what kind of arsenal it has at its disposal. China staying out if it makes perfect sense.
This conflict would stop if the US stopped supplying Israel, and condemned them and imposed sanctions on them. Following an Israeli ceasefire, the houthis would have no reason to continue their attacks and the problem would be resolved.
Based Chinese.
Fuck israel and any country aiding them and their ZioNazi genocide.