China opposes escalation in Red Sea amid US bombing of Yemen

By Berk Kutay Gokmen

ISTANBUL (AA) – China on Monday said it opposes any actions that escalate tensions in the Red Sea after the US and the UK launched a new wave of airstrikes on Yemen.

Beijing “opposes any moves that escalate tensions in the Red Sea,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in the Chinese capital, according to a transcript of her news conference.

At least 53 people were killed and 98 others injured in US-UK airstrikes on Yemen on Saturday, according to the Houthi-run Health Ministry.

The attacks came as US President Donald Trump warned that “hell will rain down” if the Iran-backed group continues its attacks on Red Sea shipping.

The Houthis warned Israel on March 7 to allow humanitarian aid into the blockaded Gaza Strip within four days or face renewed maritime operations against Israeli-linked vessels.

However, the US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has said that airstrikes in Yemen took out multiple Houthi leaders.

In Beijing, spokeswoman Mao said: “The situation in the Red Sea and Yemen issue have complex causes and should be properly resolved through dialogue and negotiation.”

The Yemeni Houthi group on Monday also targeted a US aircraft carrier in the northern Red Sea with multiple rockets and drones for the second time in 24 hours, as the US launched a new wave of airstrikes in Yemen.

"In response to the ongoing American aggression against our country, the Yemeni Armed Forces (Houthi forces) targeted the American aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman in the northern Red Sea for the second time within 24 hours," the group's military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a televised statement.

He noted that the attack was carried out with multiple ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, in what he described as "a confrontation that lasted for several hours."

The Houthis have been attacking Israeli-linked ships passing through the Red and Arabian seas, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones since late 2023, disrupting global trade for what it said was a show of solidarity with the Gaza Strip.

The group halted attacks when a Gaza ceasefire was declared in January between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. But it threatened to resume the attacks when Israel blocked all aid into Gaza on March 2.