Chinese Satellites and Arms Support the Houthis and target American and Allied Military Ships (including aircraft carriers)
The US State Department has now confirmed that Chinese satellites are being used to target “commercial shipping” for the Houthis. But that is only part of China’s egregious behavior. Is there an answer to China giving help to the Houthis?
It is not clear how long the State Department has known about the Houthis use of Chinese satellites, but for some time for sure, because Bill Gertz reports in the Washington Times that the State Department protested a number of times to the Chinese government, which said it did not know about it and refused to do anything to curtail the Chinese satellite operator.
What is not mentioned is that the same satellite information passed to the Houthis also would have reported on the position of US and allied warships, including aircraft carrier in the Red Sea and Arabian sea. The Houthis have clearly targeted US and allied warships and America’s aircraft carriers now in the region.
Along with supplying satellite support, China is supply weapons and weapons components to the Houthis.
In one of the latest seizures, Conflict Armament Research (CAR) inspected an intercepted shipment to the Houthis. CAR investigation teams work on the ground in active armed conflicts. The teams document weapons at the point of use and track their sources back through the chains of supply.
They found equipment from China and from Europe. The European contribution was a small turbojet engine, similar to engines used by the Iranians for some of their cruise missiles. The Iranian engines have been identified as manufactured in the Czech republic.
The Chinese parts included “Hundreds of airframes and fins for use in the local assembly of 270mm Badr-class precision-guided artillery rockets.” In addition, a number of “Oxygen” bottles were found, but they were filled with hydrogen. The Houthis appear to be extending the range of their drones by using hydrogen as a fuel. However, the intercepted shipment did not include special membranes, known as PEMs (proton exchange membranes) that are needed to convert hydrogen gas into electricity. China is making PRM fuel cells, and it is quite possible the Houthis have received them already. If true, it means that Houthi drones threaten not only neighboring states (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel) but also US ships at sea, including aircraft carriers. Hydrogen powered drones can carry heavier loads and travel farther than battery powered drones.
When it comes to drones, aside from sanctioning some Chinese drone makers, the US has done little, partly because China is a major supplier of drone parts to Ukraine, and also because US companies buy drone parts from China.
China recently has blacklisted a number of US drone companies. Among them are Brinc Drones, Domo Tactical Communications (DTC), Firestorm Labs, HavocAI, Insitu, Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems, Neros Technologies, Rapid Flight, Red Six Solutions, Skydio and Synexxus. These are all companies that are important to the US drone industry – be it autonomous, tactical or defense-related drones. Taiwan has offered to replace supplies from China, but it is not clear how quickly this can be done. The US now faces another significant supply chain issue.
US diplomatic notes to the Chinese have done no good. Called démarches in diplomatic language, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle, has called them “de-marshmallows.”
The State Department has not recommended any further action. Complicating the picture is the ongoing trade war with China.
One would have thought that China would have exercised some caution in using its satellites and promoting Houthi war-making, because the Red Sea trade route and Suez Canal is an important way Chinese supplies reach Europe. Of course China won’t target its own ships.
This invites an important opportunity. If China is helping the Houthis attack merchant and military vessels in the Red Sea, why not block China’s ships from entering the Red Sea? One would think China would get the message, and the world would understand China’s nefarious game.
Despite its public face that China “supports regional peace and stability,” in fact it is a hostile, warlike country even willing to risk access to the world’s oceans (which it needs for its survival) to create trouble for the United States and its allies.
Given that the US provides targeting information from AWACs, drones and satellites to Ukraine to strike Chinas ally Russia I’m not seeing that we are in a position to act holier than thou here
Absent in this analysis based on unverified information from the US government is the fact that if the USA wasn't assisting Israel in its genocide against the Palestinians, no US ship in the region would ever be targeted by the Houthis. That's true regardless if the vessel is military or commercial. Therefore, even if the unverified report is true, in both practical and moral terms the US is the author of its own problem.