China appears to be aiding the Houthis to increase its influence in the Middle East.
The Cambridge English Dictionary defines “proxy war” as “a war fought between groups or smaller countries that each represent the interests of other larger powers, and may have help and support from these.” The United States of America and the Soviet Union certainly fought their fair share of proxy wars against each other during the Cold War, in far-flung countries such as Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. (The fact that the Soviets sent some of their own combat troops to fight in Korea and Vietnam is a not-so-well-kept secret.)
Given the ever-increasing tensions between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), it should come as no surprise that the latter country is now evidently fighting a proxy war against the former. The apparent beneficiary? The Houthi terrorist group in Yemen.
China and the Houthis
The inspiration for this article comes to us via UK Daily Mail Senior White House correspondent Emily Goodin in a story republished on or about April 18, 2025, titled “Report: China aiding Houthi rebels in Yemen to target US ships.” To wit:
“The discovery comes amid a deepening trade war between Washington and Beijing after President Trump slapped huge new tariffs on imports from China – up to 145 percent – backing President Xi Jinping into an economic corner. Trump’s administration warned China that Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co Ltd, which has ties to the People’s Liberation Army, is providing the Houthis with this intelligence.”
As if that weren’t bad enough, consider the title of a Washington Times report by Bill Gertz (published the same day as the quoted Daily Mail report): “China rejected U.S. appeals to stop satellite imagery support used in Houthi missile strikes.” Therein, Gertz quotes U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce:
“Their actions and Beijing’s support of the company, even after our private engagements with them, is yet another example of China’s empty claims to support peace … The fact that they continue to do this is unacceptable … We urge our partners to judge the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese companies on their actions, not their empty words.”
Beijing’s Official Denials
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian denied having any knowledge of Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd.’s support to the Iranian-backed Houthis while also denying that his government is undermining regional peace:
“Since the situation in the Red Sea escalated, China has been playing a positive role to ease tensions.”
China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the Middle East
As the saying goes, “Follow the money.”
Beijing’s use of the Houthis as a proxy warfighter can and should be viewed against the backdrop of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to expand its sphere of influence within the Middle East. As noted by SA Kader of the Middle East business news agency Zawya (a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters) in an April 7, 2025, article, the Middle East was the top regional recipient of Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) largesse in 2024, securing $39 billion across key sectors such as fossil fuels, infrastructure, and renewable energy.
Kader’s article doesn’t mention Yemen but does mention BRI projects in Saudi Arabia, which not only borders Yemen to the north but indeed started its own military campaign against the Houthis in 2015, nearly an entire decade before the United States and the United Kingdom did so. Moreover, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is a key member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which gives China all the more motivation to gain an economic foothold therein. The problem is the KSA’s aforementioned enmity with the Houthis, which in turn should (one would logically think) give the Saudi royal family second thoughts about getting too cozy with the CCP.
This underscores the need for the Trump administration to stay positively engaged in the Middle East, as was exemplified by Trump in his first term via the Abraham Accords; a revisitation and expansion of the accords would not only bolster the chances of restoring some semblance of peace to the war-torn region but contain the added bonus of counteracting China’s power plays therein.
China’s satellite intelligence assistance to the Houthis also highlights the sense of urgency for the United States and its allies to continue to strengthen their own space capabilities.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr
Christian D. Orr was previously a Senior Defense Editor for National Security Journal (NSJ) and 19FortyFive. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS). If you’d like to pick his brain further, you can ofttimes find him at the Old Virginia Tobacco Company (OVTC) lounge in Manassas, Virginia, partaking of fine stogies and good quality human camaraderie.
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