Houthi Rebel Missiles in the Red Sea Have a Link to China

China may have played an unwitting role in the proliferation of ballistic missile technology that has wound up in the hands of Houthi rebels who are attacking container ships in the Middle East.

A Chinese military blogger using the handle "Korolev," who has more than 6 million followers on the microblogging app Weibo, stirred up the intense debate this week after hinting at the Houthi movement's possible use of Chinese missile technology.

The Houthis, based in Yemen, have launched anti-ship ballistic missiles toward crowded international shipping lanes in the Red Sea, where commercial vessels are carrying cargo to and from major European and Asian ports. The group has described the move as a response to Israel's ongoing military offensive against Hamas.

The Shiite movement has been engaged in a protracted conflict against Yemen's Sunni-majority government. Iran, one of the Houthis' regional allies, is believed to have supplied weapons to the rebels as part of the Islamic Republic's ongoing proxy conflict against Saudia Arabia.

In a post on Sunday, Korolev pointed to the Chinese origin of the anti-ship weapon used by the Houthis. The missile may have been derived from Chinese technology previously shared with Iran, he said.

Houthis operate two types of large anti-ship ballistic missile, the Asef and the Tankil, both likely modified from existing Iranian designs, according to Fabian Hinz, a researcher at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank, who shared the connection in an X post late last month.

Korolev traced the earliest predecessor of these missiles back to China's Red Flag 2A surface-to-air missile—exported to Iran in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq War—and its modified B610 and B611 missiles.

However, there was no known evidence of transfer from China to the Houthi movement.

Earlier this week, Chinese military blogger Zhang Bin, in a commentary on TikTok's Chinese cousin Douyin, remarked that the Houthis had beaten the People's Liberation Army in becoming the first to strike a ship using Chinese missile technology.

The tentative link, however, may not spare China from the Houthis' apparent indiscriminate fire. Last week, the MSC Alanya, a Liberian flag vessel that was built in China, was targeted by Houthi missiles.

The incidents have only intensified since the start of the Israeli-Palestinian war, adding to the growing threat to maritime security in the Red Sea corridor, through which billions of dollars of trade and goods pass each year.

The United States on Monday announced the creation of a multinational naval protection force in the southern Red Sea to counter the persistent Houthi attacks on merchant shipping—more than 100 attempts on 12 vessels in the last month alone.

Ten nations have joined Operation Prosperity Guardian so far.

The Iran-backed Houthis have also attempted long-range missile strikes into Israel, ostensibly to show support for Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, these efforts have been largely ineffective.