Analysis

In Yemen, China exploits US security gap while seeking to curb Houthis

The Houthis’ advances around Bab al-Mandab point to another crack in the US-led Gulf security architecture—one China could gain from diplomatically and economically, even as it seeks to prevent a wider regional escalation.

Joyce Karam

Sep 17, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Just when it seemed the Middle East had more than enough pressure on its waterways, the Houthis opened another front in Yemen. In a lightning offensive last week, the group routed Saudi-backed forces from Yemen’s Red Sea coastline, seized the strategic port of Mokha and moved on to Perim Island, at the entrance to the Bab al-Mandeb. That puts the Houthis in position to threaten a second vital shipping corridor while Iran, which backs them, remains in control of the Strait of Hormuz. 

Unlike the Trump administration's response to the Hormuz crisis, the White House has shied away from military escalation to defend its ally, Saudi Arabia, against the Houthis and instead opted to open a separate diplomatic channel with the group, which President Donald Trump designated a foreign terrorist organization in March 2025.

For Beijing, the current crisis is a double-edged sword. According to the Yemeni scholar Fatima Al-Asrar, the conflict could, on the one hand, further unravel an already weakened US security posture in the Gulf, but on the other hand, undermine Saudi Arabia, China's closest Gulf partner. 

The Houthi offensive launched Sept. 9 was the group’s largest advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast since the early stages of the country’s civil war in 2014. It captured Mokha,........

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