By Al-Fassel | 2024-05-06

China has been conspicuously absent from the international coalition safeguarding the Red Sea, despite sending a naval fleet to the important trade route.

Beijing deployed its 46th fleet -- including guided-missile destroyer Jiaozuo, missile frigate Xuchang and comprehensive replenishment vessel Honghu -- to the Gulf of Aden on February 21, according to China's Xinhua News Agency.

The deployment was part of the Chinese navy's routine escort operations, a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson said at the time.

But analysts question China's motives in the key waterway, where Iran-backed Houthis have conducted dozens of attacks against commercial ships since last November.

Beijing's involvement has not always been for "altruistic reasons," warned Michael O'Hanlon, a senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution.

"There's also the plausible explanation they could be sending ships just to gather intelligence on the performance of [US] missile and drone intercept technology," he told Voice of America (VOA).

Red Sea security

A coalition of about two dozen countries, including the United States and United Kingdom, have been actively working to secure the waterway stretching between the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

China -- the world's largest exporter and a key Iran ally -- is not involved and has not condemned the Houthis' actions.

"On the whole, China stands ready to work with all parties to safeguard the safety of international shipping lanes," Yuan Mu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA.

But so far, aside from escorting some Chinese ships, the Chinese navy has not taken action to secure shipping lanes.

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder on February 29 said the United States "would welcome a productive role for China to play, but ... at this stage they have not offered nor are they conducting any type of operations to help safeguard mariners or international shipping."

Distress calls ignored

The area also faces security challenges due to the presence of Somali pirates -- threats the Chinese have ignored as well.

Last November, five armed assailants believed to be Somali nationals boarded the merchant vessel Central Park as it transited the Gulf of Aden, the Pentagon said.

They fled in a small boat and were detained after US guided missile destroyer USS Mason, allied ships and associated aircraft that are part of the Combined Maritime Forces' counter-piracy task force, responded and demanded the vessel's release, Ryder said November 27.

Three Chinese naval vessels had apparently ignored repeated distress calls from the Central Park after it came under attack.

"Supposedly, those ships are there as part of a counter-piracy mission, but they did not respond," Ryder said.