China, Russia join Iranian naval drills amid Red Sea crisis

Military exercises come as US and British jets strike Houthi targets to protect shipping.

An Iranian corvette under way during the combined naval exercise. Picture: AFP

China and Russia have joined Iran in naval exercises in the approaches to the Red Sea, in response to the US-led military operation to protect merchant shipping from missile attacks.

Beijing said that a destroyer, a frigate and a naval supply ship would be deployed with Russian and Iranian counterparts for the exercises in the Gulf of Oman, which began on Tuesday morning.

The Houthis, an Iranian-backed rebel group that controls northwest Yemen, is attacking western merchant shipping through the Gulf towards the Red Sea and the Suez Canal in protest against Israel’s actions in the Gaza war. American and British jets are striking Houthi targets.

China’s 45th naval taskforce is stationed at a base in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, and has been escorting Chinese vessels in the area, though the Houthis have made clear that Russian and ­Chinese ships are not a target.

US intelligence agencies issued their “annual threat assessment” to congress, identifying China’s military development as one of America’s main challenges. It specifically warned that China, Russia and Iran were “challenging longstanding rules of the international system as well as US primacy within it”.

In previous years, China has co-operated with the US and other countries in policing the Gulf of Oman against Somali ­pirates. The West has urged Beijing to use its influence with Iran to put a stop to Houthi attacks.

Beijing has said it condemns attacks on shipping, without identifying either the Houthis or Iran, and it “has been making active efforts to ease the tension in the Red Sea”. However, it is ­unclear how much influence it has over Tehran, let alone over the Houthis themselves.

The beginning of the naval exercise coincided with the end of the annual meeting of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress, at which communist party leaders indicated a harder line against the US and its western allies. The US threat assessment was published alongside the Biden administration’s proposed budget for next year, which set aside specific military funding for Taiwan for the first time.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin accused the US of “malicious ­competition that sets traps everywhere for opponents and hinders progress”. “If one tries to suppress China at all costs, in the end, it will only harm oneself,” he said. “We hope that the US side will correct its misconceptions about China.”

THE TIMES