China, France Call for Cessation of Attacks on Civilian Ships in Red Sea

BEIJING (Sputnik) - China and France call for an immediate end to attacks on the civilian vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the countries said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

“The heads of the both countries stressed the importance of preserving freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and called for an immediate cessation of attacks on the civilian ships in order to protect maritime security and global trade, preventing regional tensions, humanitarian and ecological risks,” the document, published by the Chinese government, read.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is on a visit to France, Serbia and Hungary from May 5–10 at the invitation of the European leaders. His first trip to Europe in nearly five years comes as the European Union continues piling pressure on Beijing over its support and cooperation with Russia. On Sunday, the Chinese leader arrived in France, where he will stay until Wednesday.

Yemen's Houthi rebels vowed in November 2023 to attack any ships associated with Israel until it halts military actions in the Gaza Strip. This led the US to announce a multinational operation in December for carrying out strikes against Houthi targets in order to degrade the rebel movement's capacity to target commercial vessels. The EU launched its own mission in February.