There is mounting criticism in the United States and Britain over China’s apparent unwillingness to participate in multinational efforts to confront Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen over pirate attacks that have brought commercial maritime traffic in the Red Sea to a near-standstill.
Geopolitical analysts on both sides of the Atlantic are somewhat puzzled that China isn’t more engaged, given that 60% of Chinese trade with Europe, one of its largest trading partners, passes through the Suez Canal and that shipping costs have surged as a result of the conflict — both potentially very troubling factors for China’s faltering economy.