Tensions in Red Sea highlight broader impact of Gaza conflict: China's top diplomat

Backing the territorial integrity of Yemen, China's top diplomat on Tuesday said tensions in the Red Sea highlight “the broader impact of the Gaza conflict.”

Wang Yi emphasized that the “immediate priority” was a “swift” cease-fire in the Palestinian besieged enclave of Gaza to “prevent a larger humanitarian disaster and to reduce the conflict's regional impact.”

He made the comments in a meeting with his Yemeni counterpart Shaya Mohsin Zindani in Beijing during which Wang reaffirmed China's “steadfast support” to Yemen's sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity, an official statement released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

The Chinese foreign minister called on the international community to “intensify efforts towards implementing the two-state solution” in Palestine.

Yemen's Houthis have been targeting ships that are Israeli-owned, flagged, operated, or headed to Israeli ports in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones in solidarity with Gaza, which has been under a devastating Israeli onslaught since last Oct. 7.

With the US and UK launching retaliatory airstrikes against Houthi sites inside Yemen, the Houthis declared that the group considers all American and British ships military targets.

However, Wang called "for an end to harassing civilian ships and maintaining the safety of waterways in the Red Sea."

China is "willing to continue to play a constructive role in this regard," Wang told Zindani.​​​​​​​

Israel has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

The military campaign has turned much of the enclave of 2.3 million people into ruins, leaving most civilians homeless and at risk of famine.

On relations with Yemen, Wang told Zindani that China values its longstanding friendship with the Arab nation.

He expressed China's “willingness to continue assisting Yemen to the best of its abilities and to foster the sustained, healthy and stable development of China-Yemen relations.”